When the House budget was voted out of the Finance Committee it contained an important program that has been unfairly maligned and misunderstood since it was first introduced in 2015. Healthy Ohio—structured after the popular and successful Healthy Indiana 2.0—was removed from the final version of House Bill 166 before it passed the Ohio House and the Ohio Senate can now reverse this action and restore this critical program to Ohio’s biennial budget.

Since it was first proposed in 2015, critics have claimed Healthy Ohio was an attempt to “undermine benefits for recipients” and that it “worsen[s] health outcomes for Medicaid and other low-income populations.” The goal of the program was, and continues to be, to provide greater opportunities for people on Medicaid to improve their health. In fact, the version that was removed from the House budget explicitly prohibits people from being kicked off of Medicaid, and focuses on healthy, able-bodied adults specifically exempting children, the elderly, and Ohioans with disabilities. This newest proposal also strengthens the program by eliminating any fears that people will become dis-enrolled from Medicaid and unable to receive the medical care they need.

To achieve the program’s goal of increasing healthy choices, Healthy Ohio gives people on Medicaid tools to set up health savings accounts (HSA) and encourages the use of these accounts to pay for prescription drugs, medical devices, and other expenses. Another new benefit of the HSAs is that people who contribute to their account will not have to pay a copay for dental exams, eye exams, or prescription drugs, which many on Medicaid are currently required to pay. In addition, not only can people on Medicaid pay into the HSA accounts, but the state will also contribute to the accounts, and the program will allow non-profits to make contributions. But even if a Medicaid recipient chooses not to contribute to their HSA account, they will not lose essential medical care through the Medicaid program.

Furthermore, not only would the state make a baseline contribution to a recipient’s HSA account, but they will contribute additional money if the person on Medicaid chooses to meet health improvement goals such as choosing to quit smoking, lower their cholesterol, or reduce their level of obesity—all of which can lead to serious and life threatening health problems.

Healthy Ohio also includes an innovation that would make Ohio a national leader as one of the first states to target one of the worst features of the current Medicaid program—the benefit cliff—which the Center for Community Solutions has recognized as a serious challenge facing low-income families. As the Center for Community Solutions outlines, the benefit cliff is when a person qualifies for Medicaid, however, as they find employment or earn more money they become ineligible for Medicaid, but they are not earning enough to cover the cost of private health insurance.

For many, the benefits cliff forces them to decline job offers or promotions so that they and their family remain eligible for Medicaid. Under Healthy Ohio, these people would be given assistance to ease the transition to an employer-based health plan or other private insurance, and they would be able to rollover the money in their Healthy Ohio HSA into an account that can be used to pay private insurance premiums as well as out-of-pocket health care costs. This is a significant benefit of up to $15,000 for people transitioning off Medicaid that simply does not exist in the current Medicaid program.

Through the creation of HSAs, and the new flexibility they offer, Healthy Ohio would not only ensure essential medical care for people on Medicaid, but it would also help them transition off Medicaid and keep them connected to the workforce, which The Buckeye Institute’s research has shown can increase peoples’ lifetime earnings by nearly $1 million. Healthy Ohio represents an innovative way to improve the lives of thousands of Ohioans who are currently on Medicaid and it should be fully embraced by the Ohio Senate as that chamber continues its work on the state budget.

Greg R. Lawson is a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute.