Engineering Commons^™

Efficiency Through Accountability: Some Lessons From Kentucky’S Improved Medicaid Transit Service, Lenahan O’Connell, Ted H. Grossardt, Bruce Siria, Scott Marchand, Maureen Mcdorman

Kentucky Transportation Center Faculty and Researcher Publications

The cost of providing nonemergency transportation to Medicaid and other transportation-eligible people has escalated sharply in the United States. In response, many states have reformed their human services transportation delivery systems. In this paper, we assess the results of Kentucky’s comprehensive reform of its transit system, including the impact on the quality of transit service for Medicaid-eligible users. With three sources of data—financial and other service data, a sample of Medicaid-eligible residents, and a sample of the transit providers—we assess the effectiveness of the new system. The data show that patronage levels increased dramatically under the new process, while unit …