KCTV5 submitted a Missouri Open-Records request to confirm her fears. The records from Missouri HealthNet show in the past three months that 783 complaints were filed against the state Medicaid transportation program.
The list of grievances includes 212 driver no-shows. There were at least 20 missed dialysis appointments, which led to the hospitalization of two patients in addition to Parker.
The extra medical costs from those stays are passed on to Missouri taxpayers.
At the very same time Parker's problems started, Medicaid hired an out-of-state company to run Missouri's non-emergency transportation program. The state signed a $30 million contract with Atlanta-based Logisticare.
By phone and then at agency headquarters in Jefferson City, a spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Social Services assured KCTV5 that the director was aware of the investigation, but refused to discuss either the growing number of complaints against Logisticare or the state's oversight of the contract company.
Bahhhhhh humbug! The state is either guilty of malfeasance and abuse of its residents, or they are all inept! There is no other option. Like Texas and Mississippi and others, they simply do not care about humans, only lobbying $$$$$.
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