SYRACUSE — A Syracuse–based firm will continue providing Medicaid-transportation services to the Hudson Valley region.

The New York State Department of Health has extended its contract with Medical Answering Services, LLC (MAS) for an additional five years, Russ Maxwell, CEO of MAS, announced in a press conference May 12.

“That saves 350 jobs right here in Syracuse,” Maxwell said in his remarks during the event.

With the new contract, MAS will also create an additional 50 positions over the next five years, he added.

In speaking with CNYBJ afterward, Maxwell called the Hudson Valley contract renewal “vital” as it represents about half of MAS’ service volume.

“Our ability to service the rest of the state would’ve been somewhat weakened without this anchor,” he said.

The Hudson Valley contract is worth between $7 million and $9 million annually, Maxwell said in the CNYBJ interview.

The firm’s most recent contract to serve the Hudson Valley was scheduled to expire at the end of May.

The state Health Department near the end of 2015 solicited bids for the next contract. MAS reapplied, along with other New York and out-of-state organizations, Maxwell added.

About MAS
Launched in 2004, MAS is headquartered at 375 W. Onondaga St. in Syracuse. It also has a Buffalo office, where it employs 50 people.

MAS serves Medicaid recipients who can’t afford to travel to their doctor’s appointments, said Maxwell.

Their health plans, he noted, include a benefit that helps them travel to those appointments.

MAS employs customer-service representatives who work directly with Medicaid enrollees who need transportation to their health-care appointments.

The MAS employees determine if the individual is eligible for the transportation benefit, if the transportation needed for a covered Medicaid service, and what type of transportation the Medicaid enrollees need.

The MAS worker has to determine if the individual has access to a public-transit system or if the person would need a ride in a taxi or an ambulette (a specially equipped van).

“Most of the work we do is in public transit and taxis,” says Maxwell.

Front-line employees earn between $25,000 and $40,000 per year, depending on their experience, says Maxwell. Senior and supervisory staff earn between $35,000 and $60,000 per year, he added.

MAS manages Medicaid transportation for a total of 55 counties, having won contracts in four consecutive bid solicitations with the state Health Department dating back to 2011, the company said.

“In the Hudson Valley contract over the last five years, we’ve saved the state over $100 million. Statewide, over $200 million from 2011 to today,” Maxwell contended in his remarks during the news conference.

The company has developed a web-based application that allows it to manage close to 15 million trips a year, he added.

Contract history
As part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Medicaid redesign initiative, officials in 2011 decided that the state Health Department should administer the Medicaid transportation benefit, Maxwell explained.

New York decided to start hiring companies to manage the benefit for those recipients.

As his press-conference remarks continued, Maxwell said the department then decided to divide New York into six regions and solicit proposals in each of the regions for the management contract.

The Hudson Valley region, which includes 24 counties, was the first region, Maxwell told CNYBJ after the press event. The region extends from Westchester County to areas north of Albany.

What started in 2011 as a nine-county effort in the Hudson Valley grew into 24 counties by March 2012, Maxwell added.

“In early 2013, they put out [a request for proposal] for the Adirondacks and for the Finger Lakes area, simultaneously. We won both of those in 2013. And in 2014, they put out a bid for the Western New York area and we won that, so we have these three contracts,” Maxwell told CNYBJ.

Before the state assumed control, county governments administered this benefit, according to Maxwell.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com