YANKTON, S.D.(WNAX)- The expansion of Medicaid services in South Dakota will become official on July first. Voters last November approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the expansion.

Tim Rave, President of the Association of Health Care Organizations, says the expansion will stabilize hospital finances.

Rave says hospitals, like many others, are facing rising costs.

Rave says there are some unique health care challenges in the state.

The legislature set aside over twenty million dollars in the next budget to pay for the first stages of the expansion. The federal government will pay ninety percent of the extra costs for the first few years.