A Democratic state senatorâs proposal to replace MaineCareâs troubled transportation system with a Vermont-style solution will be among the first bills considered in the new legislative session in January.
Leaders of local nonprofit groups, MaineCare patients and Democrats have signaled support, but itâs unclear whether the bill would get enough backing from Republicans to survive a potential veto. Republican Gov. Paul LePage has expressed dissatisfaction with the MaineCare rides program but does not appear to support an overhaul.
Officials in the state Department of Health and Human Services have consistently said the system will remain, and eventually will work as envisioned when it started Aug 1.
The bill sponsored by Sen. Colleen Lachowicz, D-Waterville, would force the DHHS to stop using a system that depends on regional ride brokers and has left thousands of people without rides to doctorâs offices, cancer treatments, mental health therapy and other medical appointments.
The $40 million-a-year program serves 45,000 low-income Mainers who have no other way to get to their appointments. It has been beset with problems since the state dropped a system in which local nonprofit agencies arranged and provided the rides.
Lachowiczâs bill would get rid of the regional brokers, which take requests for rides and book them with nonprofit agencies, and put the transportation providers back in charge. As in Vermont, the local nonprofits would have to track the rides and file paperwork required by the federal government.
In Maineâs previous system, there was little documentation of the rides, which raised concerns at the federal level. The federal government is requiring more transparency to prevent fraud, in which recipients may get free rides to places like the grocery store or the beach.
The Legislatureâs Health and Human Services Committee will debate Lachowiczâs bill on Jan. 9. DHHS officials would not comment on the bill Thursday.
âI want us to do something that works better for the taxpayers and for the people who need the rides,â Lachowicz said. âI want to put something back together more like the way it was, even though it canât be exactly the way it was beforeâ because of federal requirements.
Lachowiczâs bill has support from at least one Republican legislator, although another Republican lawmaker was non-committal.
Rep. Carol McElwee, R-Caribou, a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, said, âI like the idea.â
She said the DHHS has been unable to solve problems in the program, despite extensive prodding by the committee, so the Legislature must step in.
âIâm embarrassed that we havenât been able to help,â she said. âI feel so bad for the people who are missing their rides. The stories have been unbelievable.â
Rep. Richard Malaby, R-Hancock, another member of the committee, said the status quo is unacceptable and he appreciates Lachowiczâs efforts to solve the problem, but he doesnât know if itâs the best way to go about it.
Malaby said he would like to see an analysis of the billâs financial impact.
I donât know what the right solution is,â he said. âItâs an ugly situation right now.â
Rep. Richard Farnsworth, D-Portland, the committeeâs House chair, said he expects that LePage will veto anything related to the MaineCare rides program that doesnât support the administrationâs stance on the program.
LePageâs spokeswoman, Adrienne Bennett, didnât respond to requests for comment Thursday.
LePage, in brief comments to reporters last week, indicated that some contracts for the broker that arranges rides in most of the state would not be renewed.
Connecticut-based Coordinated Transportation Solutions has separate contracts to serve six of eight regions in the state, excluding the Bangor and York County regions. It has been on the equivalent of probation from the state for subpar performance.
LePageâs comments drew criticism from Democrats, who noted that waiting for renewal time in August would mean that Coordinated Transportation Solutions would be on the job for another eight months.
Another bill up for consideration would simply cancel the companyâs contracts.
Farnsworth said that measure is helpful but wouldnât address the root of the problem, which is a system that adds a layer of bureaucracy.
Lachowicz said she looked to Vermontâs system this summer as she anticipated the problems.
âI looked to a state that was like us, rural and relying on volunteer drivers,â she said. âTheyâre like us, and their rides program is working.â
Trish Riley, who worked for the DHHS under Democratic administrations as director of public health policy, said thereâs no doubt that the system is having problems, but she questions whether itâs the Legislatureâs role to force-feed a solution to the executive branch.
âIt is beyond the oversight role of the Legislature, and gets into the Legislature operating the department,â Riley said. âIt is an executive function to administer contracts.â
Legislators who back the bill dispute that view and say the MaineCare rides program is an extraordinary circumstance.
Joe Lawlor can be contacted at 791-6376 or at:
jlawlor@pressherald.com
Twitter: @joelawlorph
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Hereâs why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.