A handful of U.S. Senators are asking the federal government to expand programs to help people get to non-emergency medical care appointments.
U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) recently penned a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. In it, the Senators urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand transportation options to help qualifying low-income Americans get to doctors’ appointments and other non-emergency medical care.
The move by the Senators references a new report by NPR which shows how Medicaid recipients across the country struggle to access transportation, limiting their access to vital health care.
“On behalf of individuals in our states with disabilities, seniors, dialysis patients, and others who require regular transportation to health care services, we write to urge that access to low-cost, non-emergency medical transportation is strengthened nationwide,” the Senators wrote.
Last month, CMS began to expand the Repetitive Scheduled Non-Emergent Ambulance Transport (RSNAT) program, which helps low-income people get to and from medical care.
“With CMS planning to expand the model to Georgia as soon as February 1, 2022, there needs to be a plan in place to assist these individuals with accessing lifesaving treatments, like dialysis and wound care services,” the group continued.
Georgia Congressman Sanford Bishop (GA-02) led a similar effort in the House of Representatives last year.
You can read the letter from the Senators below.
