Missouri Citizens Deserve Answers

Less than a year after Matt Blunt took office, and less than two weeks after transportation for Medicaid patients was outsourced to LogistiCare Solutions LLC of Atlanta, the one in Georgia, we have a tragedy. Since LogistiCare took over on November 1, they have received hundreds of calls, complaining about late and missed pick-ups.

Willie Reed of Republic, a 63 year-old kidney transplant patient was supposed to be picked up at 4:00 am Tuesday and be delivered to St. Louis. His ride never arrived and Mr. Reed was found dead, in his living room with his bags packed, about 8:00 p.m. Tuesday evening. An investigation has been launched into what went wrong.

It is possible that Mr. Reed expired before the ride was scheduled to arrive, the time of death has not yet been determined. But had the ride arrived, he may have been discovered and he might have been saved. There is no way to tell for certain at this point. An autopsy will have to be done, and the state is investigating.

I have questions, however. What did LogistiCare propose that got them the contract? Was the money all they considered? Did anyone look at them closely and rate their performance? Was no Missouri company available to undertake the duties of the states contract? My Grandmother went everywhere on the OATS (Older Adults Transportation Service) bus after she stopped driving. It was operated by the states social services office at the county level. Grandma never missed a ride, and never had to negotiate an 800 number and the menu of choices that would have confused her.

Once they got the contract, why didn't they have the necessary vans and equipment in place to perform their contractual duties. One person has already died, and they are just now getting around to sending 25 wheelchair accessible vans to Missouri. They were not prepared to meet their contractual obligations to the citizens of this state, and I encourage Attorney General Nixon to take steps to nullify their contract on the grounds that it was breached by non-performance. He should also seek reimbursement from LogistiCare for every penny of state money they have received thus far.

In Mr. Blunt's zeal to slash the operating expenses of our (poor) state, he has kicked children off of Medicaid, sharply, some would say cruelly, curtailed the services that are provided; and outsourced state services to out of state companies. He has eliminated over two thousand state jobs, outsourced contracts that put even more Missourian's out of work, and slashed the state funds for economic development.

Isn't there something we can do? Are we really stuck with this punk until 2008?