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Provide-a-Ride Program Celebrates One Million Rides

Free Transportation to Medical Care Helps Low-Income Patients

Twelve years after it began, Medica's Provide-A-Ride(SM) program has provided more than one million free rides to low-income members. The pioneering effort offers free cab or bus rides to Medicaid recipients who do not have access to transportation or the money to pay for rides to and from medical appointments.

"We're proud of this important milestone in helping our members improve their health," said Glenn Andis, Senior Vice President of Medica's Government Programs. "By making it easier for people to get to their doctors appointments, the Provide-A-Ride program has played a key role in assisting these members in living longer, healthier lives."

The Provide-A-Ride program was developed in response to a study conducted by the Medica Foundation on barriers to health care. The study revealed that a lack of transportation was one of the primary reasons Medicaid patients did not receive necessary medical care, including pre-natal care.

Judy Reinehr has used Provide-A-Ride to get to numerous doctors appointments and therapy treatment in recent years. "It has been a godsend. Had it not been for Provide-A-Ride, I would definitely be in a nursing home or maybe even dead."

Provide-A-Ride serves a diverse population including elderly and children. The call center includes language lines for people who speak Russian, Spanish, Hmong, Vietnamese and Somali. In 1996, the program expanded its services to members who live outside the Twin Cities area. Currently members in 32 counties have access to the Provide-A-Ride service.

About Medica

Medica is Minnesota's largest HMO, largest PPO and leading non-profit and independent provider of health plans. Medica has 1.2 million members and 24,000 providers in a regional health care network service area that includes 98 percent of Minnesotans and a growing number of adjoining counties in Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. Medica also offers national network coverage to employers who also have employees outside the Medica regional network.

Medica has the highest accreditation status, Excellent, from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA®) for its Minnesota and North Dakota Medicaid HMO plans and commercial health plans. Medica's vision is to become the community's health plan of choice, trusted for its integrity, respected for its service, and admired for its commitment to innovation and efficiency.