MEASURE TO FIX MAINECARE RIDES ADVANCES

AUGUSTA—Legislative leadership has approved a bill sponsored by Senator Colleen Lachowicz of Waterville to fix the ongoing problems with the state’s new contracting system providing rides to MaineCare patients.

“These are some of our most vulnerable and most ill neighbors, and they are missing their doctor’s appointments,” said Senator Lachowicz. “Everyone should have access to health care when they need it, yet they are missing critical medical appointments because the brokers hired to provide rides cannot get their act together. That’s unacceptable.”

To address federal concerns about accountability and transparency, 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.

Senator Lachowicz’s bill, LR 2453 “An Act To Replace Current MaineCare-funded Nonemergency Transportation Services with a More Reliable and Efficient System of Transportation Services To Better Meet the Needs of the Elderly and Other MaineCare-eligible Clients,” 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.”

Earlier this month, the Portland Press Herald revealed that Coordinated Transportation Solutions, one of the brokers hired to provide rides, had reported 160 complaints in August when the company’s complaint line actually received 3,662 calls.

According to Stefanie Nadeau, the Director of MaineCare services for DHHS, 58 percent of callers hang up in frustration before reaching a live person.

For the second regular session of the legislature, bills must be approved by the Legislative Council, a committee comprised of the ten legislative leaders. The Legislative Council met yesterday and approved slightly more than 100 bills for the second regular session, including Senator Lachowicz’s bill.

The full legislature will reconvene in January 2014.

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