There is a current trend for Medicare Advantage plans to work with members in arranging transportation for medical care. Here in the Treasure Valley, there are several plans that have a transportation benefit built into the plan. Note this article by Jennifer Bresnick describing national trends and Lyft getting involved to help people:
Rideshare company Lyft is expanding its collaboration with the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Institute to offer non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) to Medicare Advantage members.
In a blog post on the company website, Lyft also announced an enhanced partnership with LogistiCare, the nation’s largest NEMT provider, to include certain Humana Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in its transportation offerings.
“One of the key social determinants of health is access to services and programs that promote health and wellbeing,” Lyft said. “Transportation is the key to unlocking that access — and ridesharing is the most cost effective, reliable, safe, and convenient option.”
More than a quarter of respondents to a recent Lyft report said that ridesharing helped them get to an appointment they would have otherwise missed, while 36 percent say that the ability to get to primary care and specialty appointments reduced their utilization of urgent care.
In April of 2018, CMS announced that Medicare Advantage plans could include non-emergency transport as a covered benefit for individuals without reliable access to public or private transportation.