MaineCare rides contractor understated complaint calls
The Portland Press Herald found that a contractor hired to arrange rides to medical appointments for MaineCare patients vastly underreported the number of complaints about its first month of service, making it appear as if the company had met state performance standards.
Through a Freedom of Access Act request with the state, the paper found that the Connecticut-based Coordinated Transportation Solutions reported 160 complaints in August. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said the company’s complaint line actually received 3,662 calls during its first month.
That number exceeds the standards outlined in the company’s one-year, $28.3 million contract with the state. David White, president of the transportation company, told the paper that his service was overwhelmed during its first month and that it was not deliberately trying to deceive the state when it provided Maine officials the logbook showing only 160 complaints.
John Martins, a DHHS spokesman, told the paper that the company-submitted logbook and state tally of calls to the complaint line will never be the same due to cases like dropped calls or one person calling multiple times, but he said the numbers should be closer.
The company is one of three contractors now providing MaineCare ride service. The state previously used a decentralized system that relied on local nonprofits and brokers to arrange rides, but switched in response to federal incentives intended to protect clients from abuse of the service.
The two other contractors — the Atlanta-based LogistiCare, covering the York County area, and Penquis, covering the Bangor area — did not have the same level of discrepancies in their complaint numbers.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments