State to review MaineCare transportation complaints
Maine Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew has served notice to two out-of-state contractors in charge of coordinating rides for MaineCare patients that they must quickly address numerous complaints made by low-income patients who depend on the transportation program for rides to medical appointments.
Among the issues that Mayhew wants addressed, according to a report in the Portland Press Herald, are the discrepancies in the number of patient complaints reported by the two companies hired to oversee the state’s $40 million transportation program, which serves roughly 45,000 Maine residents. Coordinated Transportation Solutions of Connecticut landed a $28.3 million contract for six of eight regions in the state, including Portland, and Atlanta-based LogistiCare won a $5.1 million contract for the region that includes York County, as part of an overhaul of the previous regional transportation system the state undertook to comply with federal regulations to maintain the current federal matching funds.
Since the companies took over in early August, the paper reported the state had received more than 2,000 complaints from MaineCare riders reporting they had missed rides and were unable to get through busy phone lines to make appointments. But at least one of the companies, according to the paper, reported less than 30 complaints during its first two weeks of operation.
The paper also reported that members of the Legislature's Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee criticized the revamped MaineCare non-emergency ride service and called for immediate solutions to the riders' complaints.
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