Scheduled for out-patient cancer surgery — but the transport person became suddenly sick — where can you get affordable, medical transport in Santa Cruz County, CA? The middle class who work are out of luck.
What can you get?
Answer: CSE Bay Area charges $300. out of pocket for 20 miles of non-emergency medical transport (NEMT) services. You have to bill your insurance.
CSE Bay Area is easy to contact by phone to schedule a trip and they have a local Santa Cruz area office 831 419 4002. CSE Bay Area provided us with excellent, reliable service both ways. They are terribly expensive.
We just found out via a phone call that Anthem Blue Cross Supplemental (which we have from work) offers zero benefits for NEMT. Yikes!
The lucky ones? In Santa Cruz County, those who qualify for MED-I-CAL have access to free non-emergency transport through Central Coast Alliance 831 430 5500 located in Scotts Valley. Various CCA vendors – which provide vans for wheel chairs – include Hearts & Hands, based in Salinas, CA.
There is help: American Cancer Society 1-800 227 2345 offers free transport to appointments and generally requires 3 day notice. Volunteers provide assistance, i.e. driving to and from appointments. A real person answers the phone. It’s a pleasure talking with them.
What’s going on? Per usual and has gone on for too many years, the Democrats in CA continue to offer rich benefits to the lower class and to newly arrived illegal aliens who cross our USA borders.
For many reasons the middle class in CA has left in droves and continues to do so. Thanks for one-party rule by Democrats in CA.
Are there other insurance sources (since our Anthem Blue Cross does not) which offer non-emergency medical transport (NEMT)? We are looking into it.
Medi-Care Part B may offer non-emergency transport “if medically necessary” That’s a possibility.
In Santa Cruz, DCD insurance (831 423 8542) offers health insurance products. You may contact Pam for a telephone interview. We are attempting to do so.
There are a lot of folks who have worked 30 plus years and retired who may need Non-Emergency Medical Transport to their doctors. And their private insurance plans may not pay for NEMT – non-emergency medical transport.
Reality in Santa Cruz County & elsewhere: More and more people are asked to get medical services provided in non-hospital settings by appointment. Agree? That is reality. As people age, more and more people require walkers or wheel chairs to get to surgical and other medical appointments. At times, family and friends may not be available to transport.
Why so few options for those who have worked all their adult life – 40 plus years – and who have private insurance and Medi-Care and now must pay hundreds of dollars for transport to medical appointments which is free for those who may never have worked in the USA?
Are you someone — or know someone — who may need Non-Emergency Medical Transport — to go to medical appointments? What’s your experience? Share!
written by DrCameronJackson@gmail.com 6/25/2024
