Humana Transportation Study

Given the increased attention to nonemergency medical transportation (NEMT) access by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other federal, state, and local agencies, UCSF is partnering with Humana to: 1) conduct a retrospective analyses of member-level claims data to learn which types of members are more likely to utilize NEMT benefits and the outcomes associated with using transportation benefits (1.5 million members receive an NEMT benefit); 2) conduct formative research with providers and beneficiaries to learn about their experiences accessing NEMT services; and 3) develop and implement pilots to increase utilization of NEMT benefits and test the impacts of nonmedical transportation services, such as those addressing social isolation. The project deepens work that Humana has done previously on transportation benefits by independently examining a much wider group of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, including more health and utilization outcomes, and evaluating two interventions designed specifically to increase transportation access for MA beneficiaries.