Members of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee had to hoped to get an update today from Maine's Department of Health and Human Services on why the state is continuing to pay a transportation contractor with a long record of poor service.
Earlier this month, the state announced it would not renew its contract with the Connecticut-based Coordinated Transportation Solutions - or CTS - which brokers rides for patients in Maine's Medicaid program, known as MaineCare.
State Rep. Peggy Rotundo, a Lewiston Democrat, wanted to know why DHHS had awarded the company millions of dollars in additional payments during the final weeks of its contract.
But when Rotundo looked for a DHHS representative at the committee meeting, no one was there.
"I apologize, but I need to express my frustration with the ongoing lack of transparency around the performance of, and funding of, these providers by the department," Rotundo said. "We're anxious - so anxious - to get these problems solved."
CTS won $28.3 million worth of contracts last year, but thousands of MaineCare patients say they have missed rides to medical appointments.