Disabled people who want to work can now pay a premium for Medicaid.

Thousands of Ohioans with chronic medical conditions and disabilities will be able to join the work force and climb out of poverty without losing health care insurance.

Beginning next month, Ohio will join 35 other states that allow disabled workers to "buy in" to Medicaid, the state and federally funded health care insurance program for the poor, elderly and disabled.

Currently, Ohioans with disabilities are discouraged from working because increasing their earnings or assets would make them ineligible for Medicaid. Under the new program that received federal approval this week, people with disabilities who work or want to work can pay a premium for Medicaid. The premium would be based on the worker's income.

Advocates for Ohioans with disabilities have been pushing for the program for seven years, said Dave Zwyer, director of the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council.

State officials project that 5,800 individuals will enroll by June 2009. The initial cost will be about $25 million a year, with $1.8 million coming from premiums.

Susan Koller, 25, of Washington Twp., said she plans to sign up. Koller is publicity director for Checker Book Publishing Group in West Carrollton, a job she landed seven months ago after earning a master's degree from Wright State University. Already on Medicaid, she has cerebral palsy, uses a power wheelchair and gets help from home health care aides.

"I cannot make any more money than I make now (under current Medicaid rules)," she said. And she can't have more than $1,500 in assets, making it tough to save for a place of her own.

Koller said she loves working.

"It makes me feel like a productive member of society," she said. "If this (new Medicaid program) encourages more people to do that, I can only see benefits of getting more people out in the work force."

Source: The Western Stars