Healthcare & Medicaid

Creates a committee to improve services for people with developmental disabilities.

This bill creates a new nine-member Developmental Disability Services Oversight Committee to examine and monitor Medicaid waiver programs that provide home and community-based services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The committee will monitor program implementation, hear testimony from the Department of Human Services, seek feedback from stakeholders, and provide annual reports with recommendations to the Legislative Research Council.

Lets technical college employees join the state health insurance plan.

This bill allows technical college employees to join the state health plan. It defines technical college employees as permanent employees working 20+ hours per week for at least 6 months per year. The local education agency (LEA) that employs the technical college employee will contribute the equivalent monthly amount that the state contributes for other employees. Technical college employees will pay premiums directly to the state treasurer rather than through payroll deduction. Technical colleges cannot restrict employees from joining the plan.

Bans requiring COVID-19 vaccines for employment or services.

This bill creates a new law prohibiting employers, educational institutions, state agencies, political subdivisions, and other persons from requiring individuals to receive COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment, enrollment, or to receive benefits or services. Violations are classified as Class 2 misdemeanors.

Prevents anyone from forcing you to get genetic-based vaccines.

This bill prohibits employers, educational institutions, and public accommodations from requiring genetic-based vaccinations (mRNA, DNA-based vaccines) or taking adverse actions against individuals who refuse them. It creates civil penalties up to $10,000 enforced by the attorney general, with exceptions for certain healthcare facilities and National Guard. The bill also amends existing public health emergency statutes to exempt individuals from genetic-based vaccination requirements during declared emergencies.

Stops health insurers from taking back payments they already made to providers.

This bill creates new regulations for health insurance carriers limiting their ability to recoup or retroactively deny previously paid claims. It establishes an 18-month time limit for health carriers to recover claim payments (with written notice required), creates exceptions for fraudulent claims and certain types of coverage (casualty, workers comp, Medicare/Medicaid, ERISA plans), establishes a 30-day advance notice requirement for retroactive denials, creates a dispute resolution process through the Division of Insurance, and prohibits carriers from adding fees, penalties, or interest to required refunds.

Requires home care agencies to get licensed.

Creates a new licensing requirement for non-medical home care agencies starting January 1, 2027. Requires agencies to obtain annual licenses from the Department of Health, ensure home care aides complete 10 hours of training (including dementia care and safety procedures), conduct criminal background checks on owners and aides, and maintain client records. Establishes penalties including Class 1 misdemeanor for operating without a license. Gives the Department authority to inspect, investigate complaints, and revoke licenses for violations.

Requires health insurance companies to streamline their approval process for medical treatments.

This bill makes extensive formatting and organizational changes to South Dakota's health insurance utilization review statute (58-17H-1), converting many list items from paragraph format to numbered subsections and making minor grammatical corrections. The changes are primarily cosmetic reorganization - converting existing definitions like 'authorized representative,' 'facility,' 'health carrier,' and 'managed care plan' from narrative format to lettered/numbered lists without changing the substantive meaning or requirements.

Creates a system to track assisted reproductive technology and sets penalties.

This bill requires the Department of Health to establish and maintain a data collection system to track assisted reproductive technology statistics in South Dakota. The system must collect annual data on embryo creation, implantation, disposition methods (including cryopreservation, donation, compassionate implantation, and other means), transfers out of state, accidental or deliberate destruction, resulting pregnancies, and live births. All entities participating in assisted reproductive technology must provide this data to the Department of Health, which must compile and publish the information on its website by July 1st each year.

Joins an interstate agreement for respiratory therapist licenses.

This bill adopts the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact, allowing respiratory therapists licensed in one member state to practice in other member states through a streamlined process. It establishes criminal background check requirements for new licensees and creates a multi-state regulatory framework with data sharing, complaint investigation mechanisms, and adverse action reporting requirements.

Updates which community providers can receive state funding for services.

This bill adds Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to the list of community-based providers that are subject to state oversight regulations under Chapter 28-22. The bill expands the scope of state-funded service providers from 9 categories to 10 by inserting FQHCs as item (10) and renumbering the catch-all provision to item (11).

Requires disclosure of COVID-19 and mRNA vaccination status for blood donations.

This bill creates new requirements for blood donation facilities to: (1) require blood donors to disclose whether they have received COVID-19 or mRNA vaccinations, (2) label blood bags to indicate if the donor was vaccinated, and (3) protect donor privacy by prohibiting personally identifiable information on blood bags. It also allows patients in non-emergency situations to request blood from vaccinated or unvaccinated donors, requires healthcare professionals to honor such requests when available, and prohibits denying or restricting patient care based on these blood preference requests.

Joins an interstate agreement for physician assistant licenses.

This bill adopts the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact, allowing physician assistants (PAs) licensed in one participating state to practice in other participating states through a 'compact privilege' without obtaining separate licenses. The compact creates a national commission to oversee the system, establishes uniform standards for PA licensure including criminal background checks, requires participation in a shared data system for tracking adverse actions, and sets specific requirements PAs must meet to exercise practice privileges across state lines.

Joins an interstate agreement for athletic trainer licenses.

This bill adopts the Athletic Trainer Licensure Compact, allowing licensed athletic trainers to practice across state lines in member states without obtaining additional licenses. The bill creates a new chapter establishing the compact framework, defines terms related to interstate athletic training practice, sets requirements for background checks, and establishes procedures for mutual recognition of licenses among participating states.

Prevents property restrictions that block healthcare services in underserved areas.

This bill prohibits property owners from using contracts or declarations to ban healthcare services on commercial property in small communities (under 3,000 people) or medically underserved areas. It amends existing law to make such restrictive contracts unenforceable and allows enforcement actions by property owners or municipalities.

Protects healthcare workers' rights to refuse certain procedures.

This bill creates comprehensive conscience protection rights for healthcare providers, allowing them to refuse participation in or payment for medical services that violate their ethical, moral, or religious beliefs. It establishes anti-discrimination protections, protects whistleblowing activities, creates a private right of action with attorney fees for violations, includes administrative penalties for agencies that fail to timely provide complaint copies, and shields providers from administrative, civil, or criminal liability for exercising conscience rights. The bill applies broadly to all healthcare providers including individuals, entities, and insurance companies that arrange payment for medical services.

Pays back doctors who participated in rural recruitment programs.

This bill appropriates $978,294 to reimburse 4 family physicians, 2 physician assistants, and 6 nurse practitioners who have met rural recruitment assistance program requirements under section 34-12G-3, and appropriates an additional $370,000 to reimburse other eligible health care professionals who have met requirements under section 34-12G-12. The bill includes standard appropriation procedures and declares an emergency for immediate effect.

Lets diabetic students carry and use their medications at school.

This bill expands the existing law allowing students to possess and self-administer prescription medication on school property to include nasal glucagon (for diabetes emergencies) in addition to the current allowances for inhaled bronchodilators (asthma) and auto-injectable epinephrine (anaphylaxis). The bill updates definitions to include diabetes as a qualifying condition and nasal glucagon as an approved medication, while maintaining the same authorization requirements from parents and healthcare providers. It also includes liability protection language stating that schools and their employees are released from liability for injuries arising from student self-administration unless there is 'wanton or willful misconduct.'

Allows pharmacists to dispense ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine with doctor approval.

This bill authorizes pharmacists to dispense ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to adults under written protocols developed by physicians, without patient-specific prescriptions. The bill provides civil and criminal liability protection for both physicians and pharmacists acting in good faith under these protocols, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct. It also protects them from disciplinary action by their respective licensing boards.

Asks federal government to ban buying soda with food stamps.

This bill requires the Department of Social Services to submit a federal waiver request to exclude soft drinks (nonalcoholic beverages with natural or artificial sweeteners) from being purchased with SNAP benefits. The department must submit the request by September 1, 2026, implement the restriction within 6 months if approved, and resubmit annually until approved if initially denied. Milk, milk products, milk substitutes, and WIC-approved juices are excluded from the soft drink definition.

Requires clear written consent for egg or sperm donation.

This bill adds a new section to South Dakota law clarifying that an individual's general consent to be an organ donor does not automatically include consent for donation or retrieval of ovum or sperm unless the individual explicitly provides separate consent for reproductive material donation.

Creates a task force to study Medicaid options for tribal communities.

This bill creates the Indian Medicaid Managed Care Model taskforce to study the creation of Indian medicaid managed care entities in South Dakota. The taskforce includes representatives from federally recognized tribes, state department secretaries, legislators, Bureau of Indian Affairs representative, and members representing healthcare providers, healthcare insurance providers, and healthcare administrators. The taskforce must report findings and recommendations to the Governor by December 1, 2028, and is effective January 1, 2027.

Stops insurance companies from denying coverage to organ donors.

This bill prohibits insurers from declining, limiting, or discriminating against individuals in life, disability, or long-term care insurance policies based solely on their status as living organ donors. It specifically prevents insurers from conditioning policy continuation on an individual not becoming a living organ donor and prohibits discrimination in coverage terms, pricing, or conditions based solely on living organ donor status without additional actuarial risk.

supporting January as National Blood Donor Month.