South Dakota grants
& benefits: the assessment freeze, a yearly refund check and voter-made Medicaid.

Expansion came from a citizen vote. Amendment D, passed at the 2022 general election, put coverage in the state constitution for anyone over 18 and under 65 earning up to 133% of the poverty line, plus a 5% disregard.

DSS sets the gross monthly limit at $1,835 for one person, $3,142 for three and $3,795 for four. The adult group covers regular checkups, dental care and vision care, and adults who already have private health insurance can still qualify.

Amendment I, which voters decide on November 3, 2026, would end that guarantee whenever Washington pays under 90% of expansion costs. The Attorney General says coverage would then revert to low-income children, pregnant women, disabled people and the elderly. A no vote leaves the constitution as it is.

Whatever the vote, H.R. 1 changes land on January 1, 2027. Expansion enrollees move to renewals twice a year, and anyone not excluded must prove 80 qualifying hours in a month. From that date, DSS notices and the BEES Customer Portal show your status.

For who is excluded and how the hours are counted, read our guide to Medicaid work requirements.

The state's main property tax program for homeowners past 65 or living with a disability does not cut the bill outright. Instead, the Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled stops the home's assessment from rising, so you keep paying tax on the former, lower value even when the market climbs.

Applicants filing by April 1, 2026, needed income below $56,595 when living alone, or below $66,885 in a multi-member household. Homes worth more than $514,500 were not eligible unless the owner had qualified before. Unremarried surviving spouses of past qualifiers may still qualify.

Rapid City is currently the only city that offers the separate Property Tax Reduction from Municipal Taxes, which lowers city taxes the year after you apply. Eligibility again rests on age 65 or disability, with separate income limits, and the form goes to the county treasurer by the same April 1 date.

To get the freeze, you must meet all three of these and file with your county treasurer by April 1 every year:

• Age 65 or older, or disabled as the Social Security Act defines it.
• Five years as a South Dakota resident owning an owner-occupied single-family home, unless you had the freeze last year.
• At least 200 days living in the home during the previous calendar year.

With no state income tax return to claim a credit on, South Dakota pays its Tax Refund for Senior Citizens and Citizens with Disabilities as a yearly check. The amount depends on income, and the Special Tax Division begins mailing checks at the beginning of September.

The 2026 application covers 2025. Applicants needed South Dakota residency for all of 2025, plus age 65 by January 1, 2025, or a disability at any point that year. The income cap is $17,215 for someone living alone and $23,265 combined for a household.

Applications are accepted from May 1 to July 1 by mail to the Special Tax Division, 445 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre. Last year's recipients get a form in the mail in early May. People enrolled in the property tax homestead exemption cannot also receive this refund.

When the VA rates a veteran's service-connected disability as permanent and total, up to $200,000 of the home's assessed value is exempt, and an unremarried widow or widower keeps it. File with the county assessor by November 1. A paraplegic veteran's wheelchair-adapted home can be exempt from all property tax.

The state bonus pays up to $500 to veterans who lived in South Dakota at least six months before active duty and had qualifying service from August 2, 1990, to December 31, 1992. Qualifying service after January 1, 1993, can earn a second bonus of up to $500.

Veterans no longer eligible for the GI Bill or other federal education aid can take undergraduate courses at state universities and technical colleges without paying tuition. Each month of qualifying wartime active duty earns one month, with a minimum of one and a maximum of four academic years.

Current South Dakota Army and Air National Guard members get a separate 100% tuition reduction for up to 128 undergraduate credits, and receiving federal education benefits does not affect it. Federal tuition assistance must be used first.

DSS runs SNAP. You can apply, renew or report changes online at eaportal.sd.gov, the BEES Customer Portal, which also handles Medicaid. You can also file at a local DSS office, or mail or bring in the paper application.

If anyone at home is 60 or over, or disabled, only the net income test applies, and medical costs not paid by insurance count as a deduction. DSS says proof of rent, property tax and utility bills can raise the benefit, so bring it to the interview.

After lawmakers passed House Bill 1056, DSS asked USDA for a waiver that would bar soft drink purchases with SNAP statewide. Milk, milk alternatives and 100% juices approved for WIC would still be allowed. The rule would start within six months of USDA approval.

As of October 30, 2026, USDA's food restriction waiver page did not list South Dakota, so soft drinks can still be bought with SNAP here for now.

South Dakota calls its heating program LIEAP, the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, run by the DSS Office of Energy Assistance in Pierre. The amount depends on household size, income, fuel type, heating cost and location, and DSS pays your energy supplier directly.

DSS counts gross income from the three calendar months before you apply, and every adult 18 or older in the home must sign. Apply online or on paper; decisions come within 60 days. Call 800-233-8503, option 1, to check on an application.

The Energy Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP) covers emergencies: a disconnection notice for your primary heat, a supplier demanding cash on delivery or refusing to deliver with under 20% in the tank, or an eviction notice over unpaid heat included in rent. Call 800-233-8503 or email the notice to DSSHeat@state.sd.us.

Weatherization is free and done by four community action agencies, each serving set counties. Priority goes to elderly people, people with disabilities, families with children and single-family homes. Renters need the landlord's written permission and a landlord contribution.