Rough First 2 Weeks For States New, $140M Medicaid Transportation Vendor

HARTFORD, CT — Michelle Chase uses the state’s non-emergency medical transportation service to get her developmentally disabled 3-year-old to her doctor appointments. But since Jan. 1, she’s had to wait two or three hours for the state’s new transportation contractor, Veyo, to arrange her rides.

She’s not the only one.

Chase said many of her daughter’s appointments are with specialists and are scheduled back-to-back. So if you miss one it’s possible you will miss more and then the doctors won’t give you another appointment for six months. Some of the doctors are as far away as New Haven, so it’s not like she can call a friend or relative in the Hartford area to just come and pick her up, she said.

It’s even more dire for patients who need chemotherapy or dialysis.

Tracy Wodatch, from the CT Association for Healthcare at Home and who also is a member of the Council on Medical Assistance Provider Oversight, said at least seven dialysis patients have had to be hospitalized since the state started using the new transportation contractor.

Read more: http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/20180115_rough_first_weeks_for_new_140m_medicaid_transportation_vendor/