[1]Dear REALNEO Readers,
As you see from below, I have been asked to attend and answer these questions about RTA in Lakewood. I am asking my fellow truth seekers to reveal all the truths you know about this deal to the public.... Let us keep this in a public forum where EVERYONE HAS A CHANCE TO SUBMIT THEIR OPINIONS AND PERSPECTIVES about these business deals that have been negotiated by historical leadership. I am reviewing and researching the data to provide my answers by the date of the forum. In the interim, I am truly interested in everyone's open opinions about this deal! Thanks for supporting transparency in this forum! I believe that all of our citizens should have had that availability of participating in this process from the beginning.
I look forward to your answers to the 6 questions at the bottom of this blog!!!
In the interim, I have made a couple of recommendations to the Riders of the Daily Lakewood Circulator who need help getting to medical appointments and other appointments. Remember, if you have a medical emergency, you can always call 911.
1) PROVIDE A RIDE [2]to medical appointments. Most insurance providers provide transportation to and from medical appointments for disabled and senior persons directly to and from their home. Usually you must call at least 24-48 hours before the appointment, but it is a resource to people trying to get to and from medical appointments.
2) Non Emergency Transportation (NET) Transportation Services through ODJFS can assist families with transportation assistance as well. [3] In Accordance with Ohio Revised Code 5101:3-24-02 Non-emergency transportation (NET): administration:
(A) Administration of NET is directed by the county department of job and family services (CDJFS) community transportation plan. The “community transportation plan” is a document developed by each CDJFS that describes the methods by which the CDJFS implements transportation services in accordance with Chapter 5101:3-24 of the Administrative Code to adequately ensure transportation.
(1) The community transportation plan must be reviewed by the CDJFS and updated at a minimum of once per year or when changes in the NET program occur.
(2) The CDJFS employee(s) responsible for administering NET must sign and date the community transportation plan after each review or update and send a copy to the Ohio department of job and family services (ODJFS) for review.
(3) The community transportation plan must include but not be limited to the following information:
(a) The contact name(s) of person(s) at the CDJFS who is responsible for administering NET.
(b) A description of consumer access to services for NET from the CDJFS and the process the consumer uses to request transportation.
(c) The CDJFS definition of community and the process for approving transportation out of community.
(d) A list of organizations the CDJFS uses to coordinate transportation resources.
(e) The mode(s) of transportation the CDJFS determines to be its primary, or most often utilized mode of transportation.
(f) The mode(s) of transportation the CDJFS utilizes as secondary modes of transportation.
(g) The CDJFS policy regarding the selection of the transportation that is the most cost-effective mode of transportation that addresses the consumer’s medical condition and timeliness concerns.
(h) The identity of each contract vendor’s name, address, phone number, length of the contract, parameters of the contract, and cost of the contract.
(i) The implementation of policies and procedures to address the misuse of services by consumers through NET.
(j) The implementation of policies and procedures to address quality control issues with vendors.
(k) The implementation of referrals by the CDJFS for consumers that can access transportation through other medicaid programs other than NET.
(l) The CDJFS process to identify and implement the use of attendants for those consumers that cannot be safely transported independently during a medicaid covered service.
(m) The CDJFS will inform consumers of the NET program and the guidelines for service use per the community transportation plan and this chapter.
(B) The CDJFS may have the following allowable modes of transportation and/or services:
(1) Taxi, bus, and other transportation companies.
(2) Mileage costs to a private vehicle, other than transportation providers with contractual agreements with the CDJFS, at the same rate as the CDJFS reimburses employees.
(3) Vouchers to gasoline service stations.
(4) When medically necessary, an attendant’s salary is reimbursable at the current federal minimum wage rate up to eight hours per day. Relatives of the consumer cannot receive an attendant’s salary.
(a) “Relative” is defined as spouse, child, grandchild, parents, grandparents, siblings, step-child, step-parents, step-siblings, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or legal guardian or other person who stands in the place of a parent.
(b) “Attendant” is a person who accompanies the consumer who is unable to travel independently during a medicaid covered service.
(5) Lodging, meals, and other related travel expenses for the consumer, and when medically necessary, an attendant, at the same rate or higher than the CDJFS pays its employees for such expenses.
(6) Mileage reimbursement for CDJFS staff using private vehicles, at the rate the county reimburses its employees for work-related travel.
(7) Transportation of parents or legal guardians when accompanying the medicaid consumer who is twenty years of age or younger.
(C) The CDJFS must maintain a data collection system organized by transportation vendor and mode of transportation capable of providing quarterly reports that include the following:
(1) The unduplicated count of medicaid consumers.
(2) The unduplicated count of one-way trips.
(3) The cost of providing each transportation service.
(4) The total amount of mileage, if applicable.
(D) The CDJFS is required to submit the JFS 04208, “Non-Emergency Transportation Report” (rev. January 2006) containing the information in paragraph (C) of this rule for each quarter. The report submission must be by the thirtieth day after the end of the quarter.
(E) Documentation of NET is to be in accordance with rules 5101-9-21 and 5101-9-211 of the Administrative Code.
Replaces: Part of 5101:3-24-01, 5101:3-24-03, 5101:3-24-04, 5101:3-24-05, 5101:3-24-06
Effective: 01/01/2006
R.C. 119.032 review dates: 01/01/2011
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 5111.02
Rule Amplifies: 5111.01, 5111.02
Prior Effective Dates: 5/5/88 (Emer), 8/6/88, 1/1/89, 12/31/90, 8/26/00, 1/1/94
SEE THE REQUEST & QUESTIONS BEING ASKED BY THE RIDERS TO BRING BACK THE DAILY LAKEWOOD CIRCULATOR BELOW:
You are invited to speak at the August 30 Monday 7:00 p.m. candidates night for all candidates running for Cuyahoga County Executive, at the Lakewood Public Library 15425 Detroit, Lakewood, Ohio, in the first floor multi-purpose room. Each County Executive candidate will be given five minutes to speak on what you would do as County Executive to try to restore some or all of the bus service which the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) cut in the past few years, especially the Lakewood circulator, in which RTA claimed its reduced income from the county sales tax was the main reason.