Venango County commissioners and commissioners in 10 other Pennsylvania counties have signed resolutions that oppose proposed changes that would turn the Medical Assistance Transportation Program into a state-wide or regional “full-risk brokerage system.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that in any area where fixed-bus route service is offered, door-to-door service to the elderly, the disabled and other people who can’t use or access the regular bus service must also be offered.
If changes take effect, local administration of the transportation program will be removed and a for-profit company will be permitted to bid to take over the service, according to a press release from Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston, who is also opposing the change.
Venango County Commissioner Tim Brooks made similar comments to the newspaper.
“We provide the services in an efficient way and utilize retained revenue to offset costs of other programs, whereas with a private company, any money they would make would be profit,” Brooks said.
The commissioners have voiced support for Senate Bill 390, which would halt the awarding of a contract with a brokerage firm by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.
“(A contract) will take away the local control of providing transportation to the local people to their medical trips, and putting it in the hands of a company that may not be from Pennsylvania or this area,” Brooks said.
Sixteen of the 24 senators on the committee have co-sponsored the bill, according to Eggleston’s release.
“If other rollouts of brokered models are any indication, this is going to create serious problems for some of our most vulnerable constituents as we lose service quality, consistency, and experience reduced levels of service,” Eggleston said in his release.
