Lyft has landed a new
relationship with Arizona’s Medicaid program as a “provider,”
opening the door to potentially millions of customers in the state and across
the country for the ride-sharing industry.
Lyft Wednesday said it’s now “an
enrolled Medicaid provider in Arizona” after the state changed rules
effective May 1 to allow “transportation network companies (also known as
‘rideshare’ companies) to register as non-emergency medical transportation
providers,” the Arizona Health Care Cost
Containment System said earlier this year.
Lyft’s Arizona announcement offers a glimpse
into the expanding and lucrative opportunities for ride sharing companies
including rival Uber as well as other startups and new entrants like Ford Motor
Company’s GoRide Health invest into expansion for non-emergency medical
transportation services. Lyft said it hopes to negotiate similar arrangements
in other states and their Medicaid programs for poor Americans.
“Too many Americans are confronted with
barriers when they need to see a physician, and without adequate access, this
causes missed appointments, delayed diagnoses and often worsening of existing
health conditions,” said Lyft’s vice president of healthcare Megan
Callahan, who was hired last year to
lead the company’s growing healthcare businesses.
“But states across the country, beginning with
Arizona, are paving the way by providing ride-sharing as a transportation
solution in their Medicaid programs,” Callhan said. “By modernizing the
approach and improving access, we have the potential to impact nearly 65
million people — or one-fifth of the US population.”
As health insurers move away from
fee-for-service medicine to value-based care and population health models that
make sure patients are getting quality care in the right place and at the right
time, ride-sharing companies say they can have a key role. Medicaid patients
suffer multiple chronic conditions and are known to have difficulty accessing
medical care services so insurers and Medicaid programs see ride-share as a
potential solution to making sure they get to their doctor’s appointments.
The Medicaid market remains a growing
opportunity as more states weigh expanding such coverage for poor Americans
under the Affordable Care Act. Arizona is among the 36 states plus
the District of Columbia that adopted Medicaid expansion under
the ACA with the remaining 14 states yet to adopt and
some of them like North Carolina are making progress amid a changing political
environment.
“As more states look to update their Medicaid
programs, Lyft’s national scale and network make us an effective and powerful
partner,” Lyft said Wednesday.
“Over the past three years, we have forged partnerships with leading companies
in the healthcare ecosystem to provide affordable and reliable transportation
for patients who need to get to and from medical appointments, the pharmacy,
and fitness centers. Because of our experience and relationships with top
providers across the country, including the Medical Transportation Broker of
Arizona (MTBA), and Access2Care in Florida, we can immediately drive
cost-savings, improve access to healthcare, and increase passenger
satisfaction.”
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