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DHS proposes shifting day‑treatment transportation pay to per‑person per‑mile, saying it will boost small providers' finances
Summary
DHS told the committee it will move adult and early‑intervention day‑treatment transportation payments from a 'loaded mile' method to per‑person per‑mile, a change DHS estimates will raise payments by about 75% and reduce losses for providers operating their own vans.
Melissa Weatherton, director for developmental disability services at the Department of Human Services, told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee the department plans to change its transportation reimbursement methodology for adult and early‑intervention day treatment clinics from a 'loaded mile' approach to a per‑person per‑mile model.
Under the previous 'loaded mile' method, DHS paid when the vehicle was first loaded and did not scale by the number of passengers per mile; Weatherton said moving to per‑person per‑mile would more closely match the broker contract methodology and amount to roughly a 75% increase in transportation revenue for providers who own and operate their vehicles. Weatherton said providers the department consulted were satisfied and that the change should prevent providers from losing money on routine transport runs.
The committee raised no objections and the rule package was accepted as reviewed. DHS said the change and minor manual clarifications were included in a package for committee review and that the department is implementing the revised payment methodology.
Next steps: The rule was taken as reviewed by the committee and DHS will implement the per‑person per‑mile methodology and notify affected providers as specified in program manuals.
