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Changes to Ohio's budget put nonemergency transportation services at risk

Recent state-level changes in nonemergency transportation services could cause difficulties for residents of rural, impoverished regions seeking to obtain transportation to medical appointments through Medicaid.

Ohio’s latest budget changed the allocation of nonemergency transportation funds from the responsibility of the Department of Job and Family Services at the county level to the responsibility of Ohio’s Department of Medicaid at the state level. Currently, the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services uses the nonemergency transportation money to provide qualified participants with direct transportation through the department or a contract vendor. The department also provides gas vouchers. Job and Family Service employees are troubled about those recent changes and the effects they might have on their clients.

“We are concerned that removing the local administration aspect of (nonemergency transportation) services in our county will make it more difficult for eligible clients to secure transportation for their medical appointments,” Scott Zielinski, the executive director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services, said in an email.

Through those transportation services, Medicaid users have access to transportation to doctor's appointments, dialysis and other forms of nonemergency medical appointments. 

Many of those people either can’t afford to transport themselves to those appointments or are unable to because of disabilities or lack of transportation.

“If we can really figure our transportation and figure out how to provide for more people, it opens up a better quality of life,” Athens City Councilman Pete Kotses, D-At Large, said.
Nonprofit organizations such as the Hocking Athens Perry Community Action, or HAPCAP, that help develop, manage and provide services and support to individuals and families who lack sufficient financial resources are unsure about the recent changes to nonemergency transportation.

Jessica Stroh, the division director for Transportation Services at HAPCAP, said changes like those tend to have a “rippling effect” that disrupts the coordination between those groups and county services.

“There are a lot of efforts going on at the state and cabinet level as the states try to work to help the system work better in a more coordinated fashion,” Stroh said. “We are hopeful that even with this change there will be something positive, but we do not know yet.”

In 2017, Athens County Department of Job and Family Services spent $1,133,661 on nonemergency transportation, provided 42,351 one-way rides and processed 15,842 gas vouchers for payment.

“We have multiple providers and work directly with service providers to make sure transportation is accessible,” Zielinski said. “In our part of the state, where transportation is such a barrier for low-income people, it is imperative that systems to address the issue are created with as much local input and decision-making capability as possible.”

The Columbus Dispatch reported that the Ohio Department of Medicaid hasn’t yet hired a company to act as the third-party broker for the new system. The department is currently asking potential brokers about how they can serve Ohio’s approximately 3 million Medicaid recipients.

@ShillcockGeorge
gs261815@ohio.edu

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