HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is chastising Republican lawmakers by telling them quit playing games with people’s health care after they blocked a bill to continue the state’s Medicaid expansion program.
The Republican-led Senate voted 26-24 for the second straight day Saturday against bringing the Medicaid bill back to the floor after voting it down earlier this week. The bill faces a Tuesday deadline, after which it will survive only if two-thirds of the Senate vote for it.
Some Republican lawmakers have said they are withholding support for the measure until they see how other bills play out.
The Democratic governor says a handful of Republican senators are playing Russian roulette with the health care of nearly 10 percent of the state’s population.
About 96,000 are enrolled in the program, which will end in July if the bill doesn’t pass.
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This version has been updated to correct that the bill does not die if it is not transmitted by Tuesday’s deadline.
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