LAWMAKERS CONSIDER MEASURES TO FIX TROUBLED MAINECARE RIDES

Two Measures Considered by the Health and Human Services Committee

AUGUSTA—The Health and Human Services Committee will be holding public hearings on two measures to fix the flawed MaineCare Rides system today, Thursday January 9, at 1:00 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson is sponsoring a bill to cancel the current contract with Coordinated Transportation Solutions (CTS), the least responsive transportation broker and the broker with the most egregious errors, and Senator Colleen Lachowicz is sponsoring a bill to create a more reliable and efficient transportation system.

“Maine taxpayers are paying $28 million to CTS. Times are tough and we can’t afford to be paying for something we’re not getting,” said Senator Jackson of Allagash.

In October, the Portland Press Herald revealed that CTS had reported 160 complaints in August when the company’s complaint line actually received 3,662 calls.

After failing to meet the current terms of its contract, CTS has requested additional funds, with no specifics as to how the money would be used.

In August, the Department of Health and Human Services switched from a transportation program operated by local nonprofits to a regional system run by ride brokers. Since the change, clients have had difficulty booking rides; in one notable case, a caller was placed on hold for 21 hours. Patients have missed appointments because rides have been delayed, or failed to show up completely. In one case, a woman’s three-year-old son was taken to the wrong house after school.

“We’ve given the new system a chance to work and it hasn’t,” said Senator Lachowicz of Waterville. “These are some of our most vulnerable and most ill neighbors, and they are missing rides to work and critical medical appointments. They can’t afford to wait for the brokers to get their acts together. We need a system that works, and we need it now.”

Senator Lachowicz’s bill, LD 1636 “An Act To Provide a More Efficient and Reliable System of Nonemergency Transportation for MaineCare Members,” will create a more reliable and efficient system based on the Vermont model. Vermont uses a locally controlled system that is approved by the feds.

“People were happier with the old system,” added Senator Lachowicz. “We’ve given this new system a chance to work and it’s not working. There’s no more ‘wait and see,’ now is the time to fix it.”

The public hearings for the bills will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday January 9, in room 209 of the Cross Office Building.

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