Gov. John Bel Edwards defends Medicaid expansion as GOP works on repeal

Gov. John Bel Edwards laid out his defense for Louisiana's Medicaid expansion Thursday by having a handful of the 378,000 people receiving the insurance coverage describe the medical care they've received, even as Republicans in Congress work to dismantle the federal law that created the program.

Monika Calderon, 23, had suffered with severe, debilitating headaches that were diagnosed as a brain tumor indicating an aggressive type of cancer. On the advice of a social worker, the uninsured college student applied for Medicaid expansion, and the program covered the cost of her surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

"I didn't know what a big deal it was. I didn't know it would cover so much," Calderon said. "It was overwhelming when we learned that Medicaid had paid for everything."

On Thursday, the last day of her treatments, she hoped to be healthy enough to return to college by summer to finish her music degree at the University of New Orleans.

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