MISSOULA – As congressional Republicans finalized Medicaid work requirements in President Donald Trump’s budget bill, one man who relies on that government-subsidized health coverage was trying to coax his old car to start after an eight-hour shift making sandwiches.

James asked that only his middle name be used to tell his story so that he wouldn’t lose health coverage or be accused of Medicaid fraud. He found his food service gig a few weeks into an addiction treatment program. The man in his late 30s said his boss “hasn’t been disappointed.”

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“I’m a good worker,” he said with a grin.

James can get the prescription drugs that help him stabilize his life and hold down that job through Medicaid, the state-federal insurance program that co

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