pacific nw transportation consortium region 10 Pactrans

Medicaid’s Non-Emergency Transportation: The Critical Role of Mobility Services in Accessing Behavioral and Preventative Care

PI: Bidisha Mandal (WSU), bmandal@wsu.edu, ORCID: 0000-0001-8845-4282

Co PIs: none

AMOUNT & MATCH: $40,000 from PacTrans; $40,000 Match

PERFORMANCE PERIOD: 8/16/2019 – 8/15/2021

STATUS: Completed

CATEGORIES: Mobility Services, Preventative Care

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DESCRIPTION: Medicaid’s non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) facilitates free or low-cost transportation to and from medical appointments for enrollees who have transportation barriers. The goal of this project is to examine NEMT utilization for accessing behavioral health services (including mental health and substance abuse treatment) and preventative services (including primary care and specialist visits) by rurality of Medicaid beneficiaries’ residential locations.

Currently there is no national-level database that contains both health care utilization and transportation information. Past studies on NEMT use have relied on surveys or proprietary state-level data that contain self-reported demand for either transportation or medical care or both.

Findings from this study can inform healthcare delivery and service improvements for low-income populations who are eligible for NEMT benefits. In areas with high demand of NEMT services, initiatives to develop community capacity to offer medical care and prevention programs could be considered. Analysis of the MAX data from Washington can also help uncover under-utilization of NEMT benefits; and whether NEMT under-utilization is associated with use of expensive health care resources, such as, emergency department.