Delay in funding change may have saved Westmoreland's paratransit system

Westmoreland County transit officials Monday said they support the continued delay of a new funding method that could have gutted local paratransit operations for low-income, elderly and disabled residents.

“We are relieved,” Westmoreland County Transit Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said. “There is no way we would have been able to offer the same service we now do if that change was implemented. These are highly coordinated programs.”

As part of the 2017 budget process, state lawmakers adopted a new funding model for the medical assistance transportation program, which provides subsidized and free rides to low-income residents to doctors and for other medical services. The proposed change, originally set for implementation this year, could have resulted in the removal of the county’s transit authority as a service provider.

A private broker was to be hired to coordinate all medical assistance transportation programs throughout the state, a move that would likely have stripped more than $3.3 million in funding assigned to the county’s transit authority. The authority’s Go Westmoreland system operates all of its paratransit programs with more than $5 million in state funds.

Blahovec said about 50% of 200,000 door-to-door rides provided on Go Westmoreland paratransit last year were billed to the medical assistance transportation program. Because all the paratransit funding was co-mingled, officials warned that if another provider for medical assistance transportation was chosen in the county as part of the state funding shift, the local shared-ride system would experience substantial cuts of the remaining programs.

“We think PennDOT should take it over. PennDOT has invested a lot of money in our medical assistance program. It has paid for about 60 of the vehicles we have here in Westmoreland County,” Blahovec said.

Despite lobbying from transit officials and lawmakers, state officials solicited proposals from private brokers to take over the program, and a contract was to be awarded last summer. That plan was put on hold in late June when state legislators required that the funding shift be studied.

That review recommends another 18-month moratorium, according to a letter penned by the secretaries of the state’s Aging, Human Services and Transportation departments.

“As a result, we believe that a statewide brokerage model may not be the best solution to meet the needs of the MATP, the broader (human services transportation) system and Pennsylvanians who use these systems,” according to the state officials.

The continued study will address potential expansion of county-based program operations and work with counties that serve as local administrators for medical assistance transportation. State officials did not rule out an eventual switch in how medical assistance transportation is operated.

State Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield, praised the state’s decision.

“I am happy our battle to require an impact study before making a major transportation policy change has helped the department to revise its approach and I will continue to work with all interested parties to help support improvements in the MATP system,” Nelson said.