Idaho Reports: State-contracted medical transport services spur complaints, safety issues

On a cold night in November, a state contracted service “could have led to the death of a special needs child,” according to documents obtained by Idaho Reports. After a medical appointment, a driver with a transportation company for Medicaid clients dropped off a teenager with special needs at the wrong Owyhee County home. No one knows what happened in the two hours between when the driver left and when the teenager’s mother found him near a busy street. The young man, a Medicaid client, is non-verbal.

In part one of a series exploring issues around non-emergency medical transport services in Idaho, Idaho Public Television reporter Melissa Davlin writes that the incident, confirmed via an Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office report, is one of almost 400 involving Idaho’s non-emergency medical transportation services in the last six months. An Idaho Reports investigation revealed issues including tardiness, poor customer service, inadequate safety measures, alleged sexual assault, and life-endangering mistakes. While a new contractor promises to improve services, the transportation issues started well before last year, Davlin reports; you can read her full report here at her “Idaho Reports” blog.