Complaint Review: LogistiCare of NJ

 As a full-time caregiver for my 85 year old aunt with multiple medical conditions, I am always grateful for any help or assistance that I can get to make both of our lives a bit easier. Here in NJ she is eligible for Medicaid coverage for medical transportation to her (many) doctor's visits, which seemed like a godsend for us --- I have been devastated by my own health problems, job loss, and medical bills, which resulted in my car repossession. We were hoping that using LogistiCare (the company that is used for Medicaid transport in NJ) would help until things would improve for me.

Since this is a company that is associated with Medicaid coverage, and is (supposedly) aimed at providing transportation for the disabled, the elderly, and patients with medical need, I was assuming that certainly the services provided would be safe, provided in a timely manner, and provided by appropriate personnel.

I will say that in the time that we have been using LogistiCare, 80% of the time ---- the services are appalling!

From chronic lateness (an HOUR or more for a pick up and 3 HOURS for a return home ride), to unsafe vehicles (we had one that caught fire in the middle of the ride! another with breaks ready to go!), to drivers that are questionable (several who did not speak enough English to ask for directions!), to not providing appropriate vehicles (EVERY SINGLE RESERVATION I tell the customer service rep that my aunt CANNOT CLIMB INTO VANS --- what do they send? a van! At one pick up, she slipped and fell out of the van trying to climb in, hurting her already arthritic leg, knee and hip. The driver did nothing, and we missed the dr appointment anyway!).

In February, my aunt had a dr appointment (the office is 15 minutes away!) scheduled for 9am. She had been having some serious issues with sudden numbness in her face and needed a follow-up. I made the reservation earlier in the week.

No ride came, and it's now 8:45am. I called LogistiCare, and was told they were "in traffic". I called 3 more times after that (rescheduling the appt to 10:30am to be safe). They finally showed up at 10:30am. It was a brand new driving company we had never had before --- they had a brand new car, an official looking uniform and jacket, and you would think they were an EMT.

The driver spoke very little English, and had to call in her language to someone else to get directions to the office because she did not understand me!

We found out at that dr visit that my aunt had had a stroke. We were both stunned and just wanted to get home and get the things that the dr suggested.

The pick up time was supposed to be at 11:30am. The pick-up driver, also not speaking much English, was "in traffic", "stopped to get gas", and "was getting directions". We waited in the office. We waited in the parking lot. I called 5 TIMES for updates.

He showed up at 1:30pm! And I have an 85 year old woman with me with a recent stroke!

I even demanded that LogistiCare get us another transport company to get us home ASAP --- and I was told that it would "take at least 3 hours to do that"!

In June, my aunt had a Friday morning dr appointment  scheduled for 9:30am, where she had to fast for blood work (she is diabetic). I made the reservation 3 WEEKS prior, and called on Wednesday morning to confirm the pick up time and find out who the servicing company was going to be. I was given confirmation on both.

On Friday morning, I knew something was suspicious when no ride came by 9m. I called LogistiCare, and was told that "the ride is not confirmed; 2 companies were given the reservation, but neither has anyone available". THIS WAS A RIDE CONFIRMED JUST 2 DAYS PRIOR. I was then told that they could "try" to get someone, but had no idea when that might be --- as if we can just wait around looking out the window for a car, and then call the dr and say "hey, I'm on my way!" at maybe the afternoon? This woman is FASTING!

As a result, again the dr visit had to be cancelled, and we were grateful that the office did not charge us a no-show fee!

Complaining to LogistiCare is a waste of time. There are no real supervisors or personnel on a higher level to even speak to. And I have found that if a mistake is their fault, they will not believe you.

As a medical professional, I am appalled at all of this.

I would suggest that the State of NJ, the NJ Department of Medicaid Services, even Governor Chris Christie take a GOOD HARD LOOK at this company, which is under their jurisdiction. WHY are they continuing to allow such shoddy, unsafe, and unprofessional services --- reimbursed by Medicaid monies --- to continue? We need to have a Medicaid alternative to just this company.

I would suggest that any NJ Medicaid patient who receives poor services from LogistiCare complain to these departments, as well as their Medicaid provider (HMO or whatever), who is actually reimbursing for these services.