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“Medicaid expansion is the only reason that me and thousands of people around Montana are able to go to the doctor at all.”

Ali Wahl was just 26 years old when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma for the second time in her life.

She needed chemotherapy, radiation, a stem cell transplant and immunotherapy to fight the cancer.

“The only reason I was able to be treated was because of Medicaid,” Ali said.

Ali had just moved back to Montana to begin a new job, after serving in the Peace Corps. Because she wasn’t employed fulltime, she wasn’t able to get health coverage through her employer.

Ali was able to access the treatment she needed to recover because of Montana’s expanded Medicaid program. The Montana State Legislature expanded healthcare coverage under Medicaid in 2015 and again in 2019. This unlocked millions in federal funding to expand healthcare coverage to low-income, working Montanans without other options.

“Medicaid expansion is the only reason that me and thousands of people around Montana are able to go to the doctor at all,” Ali said.

Close to 80,000 Montanans rely on the state’s current Medicaid program for their access to care. Like Ali, the vast majority of these Montanans are working or attending school, and two-thirds live in rural areas.

Because of the treatment she received through Medicaid, Ali was able to go on to earn her master’s degree in public health and now works as a Risk and Quality Manager at Ruby Valley Medical Center in Sheridan, MT.

This year, Montana lawmakers will decide whether to continue the Montana Medicaid program as it is today.

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Find out about what’s at stake for Montanans.

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