LCO No. 4219 1 of 2
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7166
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4219
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)
AN ACT CONCERNING NO NEMERGENCY MEDICAL
TRANSPORTATION FOR M EDICAID BENEFICIARIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) The Commissioner of 1
Social Services shall ensure that the state's medical assistance program 2
shall provide coverage for nonemergency medical transportation to 3
each eligible Medicaid beneficiary upon the request of such 4
beneficiary. The Commissioner of Social Services, or any 5
transportation brokerage vendor contracting with the commissioner 6
pursuant to the requirements of 42 CFR 440.170, shall not: 7
(1) Fail or refuse to provide nonemergency transportation to eligible 8
Medicaid beneficiaries; 9
(2) Unless there is a documented weather or traffic emergency that 10
impedes access to a Medicaid beneficiary, exceed a (A) fifteen-minute 11
waiting time for a scheduled pickup of a beneficiary en route to an 12
appointment, or (B) thirty-minute waiting time for a beneficiary's 13
scheduled return trip; 14 Raised Bill No. 7166
LCO No. 4219 2 of 2
(3) Provide a mode of transportation other than the mode requested 15
by the Medicaid beneficiary, provided such mode of transportation is 16
medically necessary, as set forth in section 17b-259b of the general 17
statutes; or 18
(4) Maintain transportation provider network that is incapable of 19
meeting the nonemergency transportation needs of the state's 20
Medicaid beneficiaries. 21
(b) Medicaid beneficiaries who are denied medically necessary, 22
nonemergency medical transportation required pursuant to this 23
section may seek civil injunctive relief from the Superior Court. The 24
court may order the Department of Social Services to impose penalties 25
on the contracted transportation brokerage vendor as required by the 26
contract between the department and the vendor. 27
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a statutory right to timely and appropriate nonemergency
medical transportation for Medicaid beneficiaries and to provide a
more timely avenue for such beneficiaries to appeal coverage lapses.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]