Arkansas is parting ways with the company that provides nonemergency trips to its Medicaid beneficiaries after patients repeatedly missed appointments.
Medical Transportation Management had been awarded the contract in October to serve four regions of the state covering 32 counties. But the St. Louis-based company’s short tenure has been marked by tardiness and complaints from beneficiaries, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported Friday. Two separate contracts with MTM would have totaled about $20 million in payment this year alone.
While the company was the lowest bidder for such services, state Rep. Michelle Gray (R-Melbourne) said she may introduce future legislation that prohibits these contracts from being awarded solely on costs.
“When you’re talking about human life, you’ve got to look at things like quality, past performance, references,” she told the Democrat Gazette. “You can’t just go on dollar amount alone.”
The Department of Human Services informed MTM last week that it was canceling its contracts for nonemergency medical and day treatment transport effective Jan. 31, according to a press release. Southeastrans, the second lowest bidder and provider in other parts of the state, will step into its place Feb. 1.
Officials blamed MTM’s poor performance partly on the short amount of time it had to prepare for taking over the services, and refusal by the Area Agency on Aging of Western Arkansas, which previously served most of the area, to enter into a contract with them. MTM did not get details from the state on its Medicaid population until Dec. 21.
“You can’t operate a program getting data that late in the game,” MTM spokesman Michelle Lucas said.
