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HEHS-94-184R 1 (1994-07-08)

handle is hein.gao/gaobackpi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAO GAO General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Health, Education and Human Services Division B-256405 July 8, 1994 The Honorable Howard L. Berman House of Representatives Dear Mr. Berman: This letter responds to your request that we examine whether Medicare coverage of other forms of medical transportation might be a cost-efficient alternative to ambulances in nonemergency situations.1 We found that although nonemergency medical transportation vehicles cost substantially less than ambulances, adding coverage of these vehicles (1) would expand the number of persons receiving Medicare transportation benefits, (2) may add to Medicare costs, and (3) would not address problems of abuse of transportation benefits. We are also providing information on Medicare beneficiaries who receive dialysis treatments. These beneficiaries constitute a small portion of the beneficiary universe but are high users of ambulance services. As you requested, we also explored medical transportation benefits provided under other government programs. We found that, while some government programs offer nonemergency transportation, the rationale for this coverage does not include an effort to achieve cost savings. Finally, although Medicare beneficiaries who find nonemergency transportation costs difficult to pay out of pocket would certainly welcome coverage of these costs, programs such as Medicaid already pay the nonemergency medical transportation costs of many low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Nonemergency medical vehicle transportation includes ambulettes and wheelchair vans; taxicabs and private vehicles; and public vehicles, such as buses. GAO/HEHS-94-184R Medicare Transportation Benefits

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