I write concerning the LogistiCare MaineCare rides program that recently went into effect for the disabled and elderly with medical needs. It is atrocious.
I have been:
— On the phone a half-hour for one appointment;
— Put on hold as they call the post office to check an address or facility;
— Required to furnish a doctor’s note so I can eat in the vehicle (no food allowed otherwise, though I have diabetes);
— Required to go on shared rides with others who are contagious;
— Expected to wait outside for up to one hour before an appointment for pickup, one-half hour outside medical office for return ride;
Some clients are unable to wait outside and if the client does not show show up, after 10 minutes, the vehicle will just leave (I have been left behind).
Prior approval from MaineCare is required if an appointment is more than 30 miles from a specialist. The patient is expected to wait to hear by phone or letter of confirmation. LogistiCare is based in Georgia. They don’t understand that many specialists are more than 30 miles away.
None of the rules are explained until a client is in the vehicle or has to call LogistiCare.
What is their goal? To make clients not call for a ride when needed, to get sicker and die? I do not know how people who are ill or disabled manage to figure it all out. I have disabilities and the service is atrocious.
Something needs to change, and fast.
Dorothy Soule, Farmington
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