The Medical Transportation Access Coalition (MTAC) applauded the House of Representatives for recently passing a package of Fiscal Year 2020 spending bills that includes a prohibition on using any federal funding in FY 20 to publish regulations that would limit Medicaid beneficiary access to non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) services. The bill also includes report language or agency guidance directing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to conduct a study to examine the impact any regulatory actions to limit access to NEMT could have on beneficiary access to care.
The House action came a few weeks after the Administration published an updated regulatory agenda that shifted potential rulemaking on NEMT from spring 2019 to winter 2021.
MTAC founders and members are encouraged by both of these actions, and they are continuing to work with a bipartisan and bicameral group of legislators to protect beneficiary access to well-managed and cost-effective NEMT services, trips that help prevent or limit the use of more intensive – and more expensive – healthcare procedures.