PIERRE, SD (KELO-AM) The Obamacare Replacement drive in the Republican-controlled Congress isn't over till it's over. So even healthcare experts such as South Dakota State Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon have trouble predicting the final product and its specific impact.
"I think it's important for people to remember that what they are seeing in the media is just one piece of how reform will probably play out at the federal level. We will be seeing changes in the coming months. We expect that to be the case," Malsam-Rysdon explains on KELO Radio's It's Your Business Show with Bill Zortman.
No matter what form the replacement package eventually takes, it will mean big changes for South Dakota, says Malsam-Rysdon.
"Medicaid, if the bill that is being considered does pass, would see some pretty big changes in how the funding for that happens for states and so that is something, of course, that is very important to our state government. Medicaid is a pretty big part of our budget."
She says there is also a big change in how people qualify for health insurance plans.
"The changes really go from being an income-based system to an age-based system and so we have folks who want to know how that will impact them," Malsam-Rysdon speaks largely in generalities about the complicated replacement plan because it is so fluid and all the details have yet to be nailed down.
What's more, she points out that once the replacement becomes law, then the federal government will have to craft regulations to implement all the healthcare changes.