BATON ROUGE, La. — On his first full day in office, Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards reversed course from his Republican predecessor Tuesday and started the process of expanding Louisiana’s Medicaid program.

At a news conference surrounded by supporters, Edwards signed an executive order calling for the state Department of Health and Hospitals to make administrative changes needed to begin offering the health insurance coverage to the working poor.

‘‘This is the right thing to do. This is not even a close call,’’ Edwards said.

The order came two days ahead of President Obama’s planned appearance in Baton Rouge, where he’ll champion his federal health care overhaul that allows for the Medicaid expansion.

Former governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican who left office this week, refused expansion, opposing it as too costly for the state and an inappropriate growth of government spending.

But Edwards, who was sworn in Monday, said the state should accept the billions of dollars in federal funding available to provide insurance coverage.

The new governor said he wants to have government-funded health insurance cards in more people’s hands by July 1.

His administration estimates that 300,000 more people, mainly working poor, will be added to the state Medicaid program under the expansion, which covers adults making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — $33,400 for a family of four.

Associated Press