Testimony: Concerns with Veyo medical transport service
In more testimony at today’s Health & Welfare public hearing:
Josh Komenda, president of Veyo, a company based in San Diego that has contracts in six states and that took over the statewide non-emergency medical transport contract with the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare in July of 2016, said, “We know we’re really new in the Idaho contract.” He said Veyo manages about 100,000 trips per month and contracts with about 75 providers in Idaho, and has completed about 600,000 trips since the program was launched. “The complaint rate is about 0.1 percent,” he said, “approximately in line with historical rates of complaints. … Under the previous contractor the rates would be about the same. … We know there’s much improvement to be made. We’re making great strides in that direction. Every single issue is investigated.”
He said, “The transition from the previous broker did have some bumps, as can be expected from any large transition.” And he said Idaho’s recent extreme winter weather “created further problems that many found frustrating, including participants and Veyo’s team.” Veyo has medical transportation contracts in Colorado, Arizona, Texas, California and Michigan.
Beverly Hines of Boise said her clients are being left without access to services because their rides aren’t showing up. “Bottom line, the Veyo system as currently implemented is a flop,” she told the lawmakers.
Senate Health & Welfare Chairman Lee Heider, R-Twin Falls, told the crowd that both the House and Senate Health & Welfare committees are aware of the issues with the Veyo service and will be holding hearings on the matter.
Amber Irish Medina, owner of Bluebirds Transport, an Idaho medical transport company, said, “I’m standing here a broken woman.” She said Veyo drove her out of business. “I was closed,” she said, putting 27 employees out of work. “I feel passionately about this state. I’d hate to not be able to live here any more. … Please don’t take their corporate song and dances that everything is great, it’s not great. … Lies were told about my business. … I go from $1.3 million in revenue to nothing.”
Kleeta Newby, owner of KDN Transport in Boise, said her business has long transported vulnerable clients to medical appointments, including refugees who don’t speak English and people with disabilities who can’t speak. Now, she said, her regular clients are looking for her vans, but Veyo is sending independent drivers instead. “I built that reputation, and now Veyo takes them and gives them to an independent driver,” she said. “To me, that has hurt my business considerably. It makes me mad when I drive through town and I see these Veyo drivers, yet I send two of my single moms home because I don’t have enough work to give them any more. I went from almost 300 trips a day, now I may get 214. That is a big change.” She added, “You don’t have to speak English to learn friendship. … They want to go with us.”
