SB 856

This bill requires the Department of Health Services to establish a specialized

transportation assistance pilot program through which DHS may allow an aging and

disability resource center (ADRC) to coordinate or contract with a mobility

management organization to coordinate the provision of specialized transportation

assistance services for individuals in need of those services. The bill requires DHS

to divide the state into three regions to conduct the pilot program. Under the bill,

specialized transportation assistance programs include nonemergency medical

transportation (NEMT); transportation waiver services for individuals eligible

through long-term care programs under the Medical Assistance program;

specialized transportation assistance programs through the Department of

Transportation; services provided to assist veterans with nonemergency medical

transportation; or any other federal, state, or local program that provides specialized

transportation assistance services to assist the elderly or individuals with

disabilities or funding for such services.

The bill requires any ADRC that participates in the program to submit an

annual report of its activities to DHS and to the Department of Transportation,

including a description of the number of individuals served by the program and the

effect of the program on access to specialized transportation assistance services. The

bill also requires DHS, in coordination with DOT, to submit an annual report to the

legislature regarding the status of the program and any recommended changes,

including information regarding whether the program should be continued. Under

the bill, DOT is required, in coordination with DHS, to form an advisory group to

advise both DOT and DHS regarding implementation pilot program, coordinate with

the pilot regions, and provide recommendations regarding possible changes to the

program.

Subject to any necessary federal approval, the bill also requires, in any contract

for the arrangement and reimbursement of nonemergency medical transportation

services to recipients of Medical Assistance, that DHS include provisions allowing

providers of NEMT to offer transportation for purposes other than NEMT, to be paid

for by the recipient of the transportation or another source, as an extension of an

NEMT trip. Under the program, DHS would still provide reimbursement under the

Medical Assistance program only for the NEMT portion of a trip, but a provider of

NEMT services would be allowed to offer the Medical Assistance recipient—

or

another source on behalf of the recipient—the opportunity to pay to extend the

transportation for other purposes as part of the same trip at the same rate offered

for the NEMT under the Medical Assistance program.

Under the program, DHS must also include in the contract for NEMT services

provisions requiring providers to collect, for both NEMT services and any extended

services offered by a provider, information including, if applicable, trip log data,