South Dakota Medicaid Long-Term Care

South Dakota Medicaid forms the backbone of long-term care funding in the state, and the Department of Social Services runs the program under state and federal rules. DSS says the coverage can pay for care at home, in the community, or inside a facility once an applicant meets the program's standards.

For most older adults or people with a disability, two tracks matter most in practice: nursing-facility Medicaid and home- and community-based waiver services. The HOPE waiver — a joint effort between DSS and the Department of Human Services — targets people at risk of being institutionalized, and it requires both a nursing-facility level-of-care finding and standard DSS financial eligibility before someone can enroll.