Arkansas fines firm $300,000 for Medicaid ride failures

LITTLE ROCK — Months after the state of Arkansas fired a company for failing to provide required rides to Medicaid patients, the company hired in its place is being fined more than $300,000 for the same violation.

Janet Mann, director of the state Department of Human Services' Division of Medical Services, told lawmakers earlier this week that Atlanta-based Southeastrans was fined $500 for each of the 645 trips it had failed to provide in recent months, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

In February, Southeastrans took over a contract to offer nonemergency medical transportation to Medicaid recipients in 32 counties after Arkansas ousted St. Louis-based Medical Transportation Management, which had also neglected to provide hundreds of trips.

Arkansas assessed a larger quantity of damages —$3.7 million — against Medical Transportation Management over issues that also comprised failing to submit mandatory records on its drivers and furnishing its vehicles with cameras.

Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2019/sep/15/arkansas-fines-firm-300000-medicaid-ride-failures/795175/