Colorado’s Medicaid authority terminates transportation provider, capping week of confusion

Colorado’s Medicaid authority terminated its contract with one of the state’s largest transportation providers late Wednesday, capping nearly a week of suspensions, lawsuits and uncertainty.

Officials told MedRide, which provides rides to and from medical appointments for Medicaid patients, that the company’s contract was being terminated because it allegedly “jeopardized (the public’s) health, safety and welfare.” Officials accused the company of failing to comply with transportation requirements — enacted in part after a sprawling fraud scheme was identified involving transportation providers in the Medicaid program 18 months ago — and of submitting claims that were not legitimate.

Among other issues, the state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing — which oversees Medicaid — wrote that MedRide had submitted claims for rides involving “unaccompanied minors, claims for mileage that did not match the documented mileage and claims with no corresponding medical appointment,” as well as trips with more than one passenger. Thousands of other rides allegedly lacked proper documentation.

“It is absolutely our objective that we are ensuring that people have safe access to rides through the (non-emergency transportation) program,” Adela Flores-Brennan, the state’s Medicaid director, said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s with that in mind that we made this decision.”

In a statement, MedRide officials said they were appealing the termination decision and accused the department — known as HCPF — of failing to work with the company as it sought to come into compliance. The company provided more than 375,000 rides last year, mostly in rural Colorado.

If the state “would be willing to sit down with us, we could have this all resolved within 24 hours,” Greg Harriman, MedRide’s owner and president, said. “The longer this goes on, the longer Medicaid patients are denied access to mental health services and life-saving treatments.”