The Mississippi House has voted to spend $1.1 million to keep providing transportation so Medicaid patients can go to kidney dialysis sessions.

House Public Health Committee Chairman Steve Holland says the transportation program is set to run out of money by early February. He says the $1.1 million would keep the program running through June 30, the end of the budget year.

The bill passed the House 99-14 on Tuesday and moves to the Senate.

Holland says 435 “genuinely poor people” rely on the transportation. He says without dialysis, some could die.

The bill would take money from the $360 million rainy day fund. Some lawmakers who opposed the dialysis bill say they don’t want to deplete the fund.

The bill is House Bill 865.