Medicaid expansion passed largely on the votes of Montana Democratic lawmakers with enough Republican support to get it approved with a narrow margin of support. The program was officially offered for the first time in January 2016. By mid-November 60,123 newly eligible Montanans had signed up for Medicaid, according to DPHHS.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to scrap the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, which congressional Republicans have been attempting to repeal for years, calling it unaffordable and a drag on the economy.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., is a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act. He told The Gazette that legislation to repeal the ACA will come early next year, but that it may take two to three years to end the healthcare program, which Republicans plan to replace with something else, although what that would be is only being conveyed in broad brushstrokes.

Republicans are going to have to bake time into their replacement healthcare proposals, Daines said.

“We need to provide a two- to three-year glide path,” Daines said. “We will have a transition that clearly assures that the Montanans that are on Medicaid aren’t harmed on this transition.”