Patients have their blood pressure checked and other vitals taken at a mobile dental and medical clinic. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

One of the most encouraging public health initiatives to come along in several years is a state Department of Health and Human Services pilot program launched in 2022 called “Healthy Opportunities.”

The program is based on the simple premise that providing for food, transportation, housing, and other non-medical health-related needs of people enrolled in Medicaid would improve their physical health.

And you know what? It did. Program participants were healthier and ended up in hospital emergency rooms less. Indeed, when researchers compared health care costs in the 12 months before and the 12 months after enrollment in Healthy Opportunities, they found cost savings of 85 dollars per person per month.

Talk about improving health care system efficiency.

Unfortunately, neither of the recent budget bills passed by the state House and Senate would keep the program up and running and that’s a big mistake.

The bottom line: Healthy Opportunities is the kind of commonsense program the state needs more of, not less. Lawmakers should find the money to keep and expand it.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.