SSB 1222

This bill relates to the provision of nonemergency medical transportation (NEMT) and home and community-based services waiver transportation services through public transit systems under the Medicaid program. The bill provides that for the purposes of Code chapter 324A (transportation programs), a Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) under contract with the department of human services (DHS) to provide Medicaid program services, including NEMT and home and community-based services waiver transportation services, to Medicaid members, shall be considered an entity receiving federal, state, or local aid to provide or contract for public transit services or transportation to a specific client group. In part, the Code chapter requires that such an entity must coordinate and consolidate funding and resulting services, to the maximum extent possible, with the urban or regional transit system; and must comply with certain criteria including maximizing efficiencies, reducing duplication, and coordinating the planning for transportation services at the urban and regional level. _____ services to the maximum extent possible, a requirement that Medicaid managed care organizations shall provide an urban or regional transit system with the right of first refusal in providing nonemergency medical transportation and home and community-based services waiver transportation services to Medicaid members. The bill also requires DHS to contractually require an MCO, when utilizing public transit systems to provide NEMT or home and community-based services waiver transportation services to Medicaid members to: utilize the urban or regional transit system as the coordinator of transportation services to efficiently schedule shared trips to decrease the fragmentation of services and the burden on Medicaid members; provide the urban or regional transit system the right of first refusal in providing all such transportation services; if a Medicaid member is also a paratransit-eligible user of the complementary paratransit service under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), provide cost-based Medicaid services reimbursement for paratransit trips rather than the reimbursement rate under the ADA which shall not exceed twice the fare that would be charged to an individual paying full fare and requiring subsidization through local tax levies; ensure that the reimbursement rate paid to an urban or regional transit system for these services is sufficient to avoid cost transference to and increased expenditure of local tax levies, including local property taxes; and ensure compliance with Code chapter 324A.