A Denver judge has temporarily allowed a prominent Medicaid transportation provider to continue operating in the state, marking the latest abrupt swivel in a dispute between the company and Colorado’s Medicaid authority.
State Medicaid officials removed the company, MedRide, from the transportation program because MedRide allegedly had failed to comply with the program’s rules, some of which were recently implemented to address a fraud scheme.
The company then filed a lawsuit last week opposing its termination. It asked a judge to allow it to operate while that lawsuit played out.
That request was granted Thursday after a court hearing the day before. Denver District Court Judge Jon J. Olafson ruled that the potential harm to patients and to MedRide — one of the largest Medicaid transportation providers in the state — warranted the company’s temporary reintroduction into the program.
The order will be in effect for two weeks, during which MedRide can continue offering rides to patients. Olafson also directed the company and the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which oversees Medicaid, to set another hearing date.
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