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New AHCCCS Initiative To Provide Members Rides To COVID-19 Vaccine Events

Arizona's Medicaid program has launched a new initiative to get members who cannot provide or arrange their own transportation rides to their COVID-19 vaccine appointments.

The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) already provided these Medicaid members with transportation to or from an appointment for covered Medicaid services in accordance with federal guidelines. But until Monday, spokeswoman Heidi Capriotti said AHCCCS couldn’t provide the same service for vaccine drive-thru events since it couldn’t reimburse transportation providers for time spent waiting for the patient to go through the process. 

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“So this rate reimbursement change, which we think is the first Medicaid program in the country to make such a change, reduces a barrier that members may experience in getting transportation to a COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site," she said. 

Eligible Medicaid members can set up a ride by calling their member services’ phone number, which is listed on the back of their AHCCCS card, Capriotti said.

→  Get The Latest News On COVID-19 In Arizona 

Rocio Hernandez was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2020 to 2022.