Commissioners approve up to $1.3M budget increase for JFS transportation services
CAMBRIDGE − More riders and inflation brought about a budget shortfall for Guernsey County Department of Job & Family Services service contract with the Southeast Area Transit. So last month the county commissioners approved a budget increase up to $1.3 million to provide independent Medicaid transportation services.
“(SEAT) is a program funded by federal Medicaid dollars for Medicaid recipients who do not have transportation or reliable transportation to medical appointments,” said Sue Sikora, assistant director of Jobs and Family Services of the curbside program similar to an Uber. “If they can’t get to the doctor, they call us, and we arrange transportation so they can get to their medical appointments at no cost to them if they are Medicaid eligible.”
The provider for Guernsey County has been SEAT from the very beginning, said Sikora, and they negotiate a new contract every year. This year’s negotiated budget was not enough due to several unforeseen circumstances, said Sikora.
“When we negotiated the contract with SEAT in July of 2023, we didn’t anticipate a lot of factors,” she said. “One being fuel costs went up, the cost of maintenance on vehicles went up, and the cost of getting equipment to maintain vehicles went up.”
Sikora also said the need for SEAT services has increased because of the Medicaid expansion program that came to Ohio a few years ago, which added more enrollees.
“There is honestly such a need for transportation support in our community that more and more people are reaching out to get to their medical appointments,” she said. “So many folks who are accessing our services are also having to travel out of the county, which we didn’t anticipate. A lot of our clients have to travel to get specialized services they can’t get locally.”
Sikora said the biggest specialized service clients go out of town for are suboxone clinics, which are for drug addiction.
“We’ve seen an increase in recovery treatment from drug and alcohol abuse,” said Sikora. “A lot of time their physicians will subscribe this suboxone treatment plan and they have to travel out of county.”
Sikora said transportation is a major issue in Guernsey County and has been for more than 25 years.
“We just do not have a robust public transportation system that people can depend on,” she said. “We have individuals who are unable to obtain a driver’s license, some who can’t purchase a vehicle, a lot of different reasons.”
She said SEAT is a valuable asset to the community.
“We couldn’t do it without them,” said Sikora.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Guernsey County commissioners approve $1.3M budget increase for SEAT
