Public commenter urges committee to reimburse travel costs after Medicaid denial for cancer treatment

During the conference committee’s public-comment period, Antellanoff Schneider, who identified herself as an earned income specialist with Conference Community Trust, asked conferees to consider reimbursing travel and lodging costs for a patient named Richard whose cancer treatment in Hawaii, she said, was billed and partly denied despite active Medicaid coverage.

Schneider told the committee that Richard underwent treatment at the Cancer Center of Hawaii and related radiation appointments and that she had begun receiving bills. “They wrote me a letter saying to this effect that they’re denying him…Richard has an active Medicaid coverage at the time,” Schneider said, adding that one billing item from the Cancer Center of Hawaii was for $5,000 and that the total treatment was “about $60,000.” She asked the committee to consider reimbursement of airfare, hotel, ground transportation and related costs so Richard can return for a phase 4 treatment scheduled within the month.

No agency representative provided an immediate response in the session and the committee did not take action on the request during the meeting. The committee moved on to adopt committee ground rules and then recessed; the chair scheduled the committee to resume deliberations the following morning.

What happens next: Schneider’s request was entered into the public record; any administrative review or formal request for reimbursement would need to be pursued with the Commonwealth Medicaid Agency or through follow-up action by the committee or administration.