Lawmakers pressed state officials Tuesday on whether the state should keep its contract with a financially troubled company that transports low-income and disabled Mainers to medical appointments.
But the CEO of Modivcare — the Colorado-based company that provides transportation services in dozens of states — assured lawmakers that there will be no impacts on services in Maine as the firm moves through bankruptcy.
"There hasn't been any disruption and there won't be any disruption," Modivcare's Heath Sampson told members of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee.
Modivcare already provides non-emergency transportation to roughly half of the the state by contracting with local firms and drivers who then drive qualifying MaineCare clients to doctor's offices or other medical appointments.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services recently awarded Modivcare a 10-year contract with an estimated worth of $750 million to offer those services statewide. But the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month as it struggled with $1.4 billion in debt. The bankruptcy filing has intensified calls from some lawmakers and advocates for the state to cancel the contract with Modivcare.
Rep. Michele Meyer, D-Eliot, listed off the complaints about Modivcare that she said lawmakers have consistently heard from constituents.
"Showing up late consistently, about not showing up at all, about rude treatment, about leaving individuals with a development or intellectual disability sitting in wheelchairs on the sidewalk and driving away and leaving them," said Meyer, the committee co-chair. "We've heard about them consistently and they continue. No other issue is reported to me more often than this."
DHHS officials and Heath said the complaint rate is 0.007%. But Meyer and other committee members were clearly skeptical of those rates. They suggested that many constituents call them instead of filing official complaints with the company or DHHS because they fear being denied access to critical transportation services in retaliation.
Democrats and Republicans also pressed DHHS officials about why the state is moving forward with the contact with Modivcare even after the company's bankruptcy filing.
"We've got to look at this deeply," said Rep. Michael Lemelin, R-Chelsea, whose son has used the non-emergency transportation system. "All I'm hearing is, 'They are paying their bills and we are going to keep moving forward with what we have.' Why?"
Michelle Probert, director of the DHHS Office of MaineCare Services, pushed back on suggestions that state officials are not concerned about the bankruptcy.
"We have protections in place and we have contingency plans in place," Probert said. "But at the moment we have not seen a change in service, we have not seen a change in complaints, we have not seen a change in payments."
Sampson, Modivcare's CEO, attributed the debt in part to a series of costly acquisitions before he took over the company. He said the bankruptcy will allow the company to eliminate about $1 billion in debt as well as the costly annual interest payments on that debt.
He predicted that the company will emerge profitable and as the strongest non-emergency transportation company in the nation.
"The only way I am going to be able to build back the trust, if given the opportunity, is with transparent data," Sampson said. "I look forward to that and proving it. And when there are mistakes, making sure that those mistakes are communicated and heard."
Two Maine-based MaineCare ride providers, Penquis Community Action Agency and Waldo Community Action Partners, are challenging the state's contract with Modivcare in court. The implementation of the statewide contract with Modivcare has been put on hold while that case plays out.
