Montana's Medicaid expansion bill passed the state's House of Representatives on Thursday in a 54-46 vote, setting up a final vote in the House on Friday before heading to the state Senate. The federally funded expansion, which increases the eligibility to people under 65 years old who earn 138 percent of the federal poverty level, would add coverage for 45,000 people in the state.
The bill's broader passage would also make Montana the 29th state to expand Medicaid under provisions in the Affordable Care Act.
[Also: See where states stand on Medicaid expansion]
Montana lawmakers wrangled with conservative Republicans in the House to get the bill out of the committee, but ultimately 13 republicans, mostly moderate, sided with the Democrats in Thursday's vote.
The bill would expand coverage using federal subsidies, but would also require some enrollees to pay premiums and participate in workforce development programs to help them to find jobs that will enable them to afford coverage through Healthcare.gov.
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