NEW ORLEANS - Gov. John Bel Edwards laid out his defense for Louisiana's Medicaid expansion by having some of the program's patients describe the medical services they've received.

Twenty-three-year-old Monika Calderon spoke of severe headaches that were diagnosed as a brain tumor. Medicaid expansion covered the cost of her surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. On Thursday, the last day of her treatments, she hoped to be healthy enough to return to college by summer.

Calderon stood with Edwards at a New Orleans hospital to praise the Medicaid expansion - even as Republicans in Congress work to dismantle the federal law that created the program.

More than 370,000 people are getting government-financed health insurance through Louisiana's Medicaid expansion. Edwards hopes any federal health law replacement in Washington will allow those people to continue receiving services.