Following the footsteps of Uber, Lyft is a second largest ridesharing company in United States founded by Logan Green. It is being operated in 646 cities of US and 12 cities of Canada and also functions as a mobile app, offering car rides, scooters and food delivery services.
Lyft has recently collaborated with the Arizona Medicaid program and now it’s a covered option for some Medicaid beneficiaries. This means that health care facilities that are eligible for Medicaid can use Lyft for traveling to and from medical appointments. Lyft’s new Medicaid provider status in Arizona is the result of a policy change under which the agency will allow ride-sharing companies to provide non-emergency transportation services for beneficiaries who can’t secure their own transportation to medical appointments.
AHCCCS is the first Medicaid program in the nation to come up with this idea and assist the people falling under this program. “Adding ride share companies as providers of non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) can add flexibility to the health care delivery system and increase transportation options for Medicaid members,” AHCCCS said in a statement.
As 23% Arizonans are enrolled in Medicaid program, the need of quick and cheap traveling to the physician for health care is as necessary as the treatment on time. This is an effort made to remove the barriers which are confronted by the patients while seeking the Medicaid services. For example, the aged people or the part of the hospice need a regular interaction with the medical professional.
Arizona is setting an example by understanding the healthcare transportation gap, which is the key to unlock the access to services and programs that provide and promote healthcare facilities such as that of Medicaid. Moreover, a safe, cost effective and reliable ridesharing option was Lyft, which appreciated the efforts of the Arizona state to collaborate with them for the cause. At Lyft, we’ve seen the positive impact rideshare can have not just on costs and operational efficiencies, but also on overall health.
There is a statewide adoption of the new regulatory laws and the partnership of Lyft with AHCCCS has prompted regulators to modernize policies to include a network-based approach to healthcare transportation. Arizona is the pioneer to initiate this program; Florida and Texas are going to follow this trend. We are optimistic about the opportunities and look forward to partnering with other states to improve the lives of millions more through better transportation. The Arizona government has properly used the technology and utilized the resources to avail the benefits provided by Lyft that are cost effective and efficient for the patients that are enrolled under Medicaid.
Therefore, the AHCCCS is partnering with modernized and latest tech related companies to revamp the health care infrastructure and facilitate the domains falling under the Arizona Medicaid. The state ensures that they improve and sustain the healthcare ecosystem proficiently to accommodate the children, adults and the disabled people who fall under the requirements of the Medicaid plan in Arizona.
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