Federal Policy
Brief Details Medicaid Transportation Benefit Spending and Enrollee Use
A new research brief examines Medicaid's non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit, which helps low-income enrollees reach covered care and accounts for less than 1% of total Medicaid spending. The brief reviews how states administer the benefit, including delivery models and spending patterns, and profiles who relies on it. It arrives as the current administration focuses on Medicaid fraud, with NEMT often cited as a target area. The analysis provides baseline data for policymakers evaluating program integrity proposals against the benefit's actual cost and utilization footprint.
Why it mattersState Medicaid agencies and managed care plans administering NEMT need accurate spending and utilization data to respond to federal fraud-focused policy proposals that could reshape the benefit.