Getting to care: a look at Medi-Cal's transportation benefit
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Chapman, Athena, author Evenson, Elizabeth, author Finocchio, Len, author Blosser, Shawn, author
- Contributor(s):
- California HealthCare Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Oakland, California] : California Health Care Foundation, October 2020
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Insurance Benefits Transportation of Patients California United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- To improve access to care for Medi-Cal (California's Medicaid program) enrollees, state lawmakers significantly expanded transportation coverage in 2016. Before the expansion, Medi-Cal's transportation benefit included non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT), which covers transportation to medical appointments for those who need specialized transport by ambulance, wheelchair van, or litter/gurney van, and require door-to-door assistance. The 2016 law--AB 2394--created a second, complementary benefit called non-medical transportation (NMT), which covers transportation to non-emergency medical services for enrollees who can reasonably walk or move about and can therefore use public (e.g., bus or train) or private (e.g., rideshare, taxi, car) modes, and who have no other means of transportation. Together, the two benefits (NEMT and NMT) cover transportation to non-emergency medical services for most Medi-Cal enrollees. This report was commissioned to provide an overview of the implementation and experiences of the NMT benefit established in 2016. The information and analysis in this report draws from interviews with key informants including representatives from Medi- Cal managed care plans (MCPs), state officials from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), a small group of Medi-Cal enrollees who have used the benefit, consumer advocates, transportation brokers, providers, policy experts, and other state Medicaid officials. The report also draws on utilization and cost data provided to the authors by five MCPs and through publicly available policy and regulatory documents. The research for this report was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, so the data and findings do not reflect the impact of the pandemic on NMT implementation, utilization, or experience. Of note, the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced use of routine health care services, as many enrollees have delayed or avoided in-person care. Additionally, new federal and state policy flexibilities have increased the ability for enrollees to access providers through technology such as telehealth and e-visits. If these policies are retained in the long term and enrollees continue to access some care remotely, the impact on NMT demand and use should be studied.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (21 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101775684 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101775684