To the Editor,
I am concerned that ordinary well-meaning people might mistake Amendment F for something about helping people get work. Sorry it does not.
Rather, the sole purpose of the Medicaid work requirement idea is to kick people off Medicaid.
If it were about work, it would include some help or encouragement toward employment. But it has no help: no job, no job training, no childcare, nothing.
Evidence shows Medicaid work requirements do not expand employment, mainly because almost all involved are already working or not available for employment due to various circumstances, such as caregiving or health issues. The additional bureaucratic red tape causes even those who are working or should be exempt to fall through the cracks and lose healthcare coverage. Amendment F is counting on that.
The Legislature refused Medicaid expansion for ten years. We voters passed it two years ago, because we want people to have healthcare! Many South Dakotans follow Jesus, the Great Healer, who said, about the man who took the stranger to get some healthcare, "Go and do likewise."
I believe South Dakota voters who understand what Amendment F does and doesn't do will vote No on F to defend the healthcare of the poor. Love your neighbors. Please vote NO on F.
Cathy Brechtelsbauer, Sioux Falls
