Seniors and low-income residents who use the county’s
specialized transportation services to get rides to out-of-town
medical appointments will have to pay more if proposed rate hikes
are approved this fall.
Seniors and low-income residents who use the county’s specialized transportation services to get rides to out-of-town medical appointments will have to pay more if proposed rate hikes are approved this fall.
It could also mean that those who cannot pay would be denied rides to the doctor or other appointments.
A plan under consideration by the San Benito County Local Transportation Authority (LTA) would change the donation-based out of county non-emergency medical transportation program to a fee-based system and would also raise the medical-shopping assistance program fare for the first time in eight years.
“The community needs the service,” said Betty LiOwen, a local transportation planner. “With this economy, we’ve been losing funds for transportation and we want to make sure we can maintain the services that we have. Establishing a fare and increasing fares are ways to do that.”
More than 450 passengers used the out-of-county transportation service in May, the most recent month for which data is available. Operating Monday through Saturday, the service asks clients for a $10 donation for round-trips to Gilroy or Salinas and $20 for trips to San Jose or Palo Alto. Under the current fee structure, clients who do not pay the full amount are not denied a ride.
In May, that service collected $258 in donations from 454 passengers, or 57 cents per trip.
LiOwen said the specialized transportation program, which is funded by the state and federal sources, costs up to $10,000 per month for the out-of-county service.
The medical-shopping assistance program, which primarily serves seniors over the age of 60 and persons with disabilities, collected $124 from its 124 passengers. That service, which costs up to $3,400 per month to administer, charges $1 each way for in-town medical appointments or trips to the bank, grocery store or pharmacy.
The LTA is recommending changing the donation-based fees to zone-based fees ranging from $2 for one-way for trips to Gilroy to $5 each way for trips to Palo Alto. Fees for the medical-shopping assistance program would rise by 25 cents to $1.25 each way.
See the full story in the Pinnacle.
