What Good Is Health Coverage If You Cannot Get to the Doctor

By JOE MKHITARYAN We spend a lot of time talking about who has health insurance. I think we need to spend more time asking who can actually use it. You can approve an appointment, find a specialist and cover the treatment. But if the patient cannot get out of the house and into the right vehicle, none of that gets them to the doctor. I have been in the medical transportation business since 2010. I built my businesses in Southern California, where a few miles on a map can turn into a long trip in traffic. Running these operations has taught me to ask questions that are easy to miss when you are looking at a transportation budget. Can the patient walk? Can they sit upright? Are there stairs outside the home? Do they need a wheelchair vehicle or a gurney? Who is bringing them back? Those answers determine whether the ride will work. They need to be settled before a vehicle arrives. Non-emergency medical transportation, or NEMT, is how many patients reach appointments when they cannot get there on their own. It is easy to describe it as a ride. Providing it is more involved. Take a gurney trip. In our operation, that means sending two staff members. They have to help the patient safely...