KVCAP transit buses arrive with individuals having dialysis Wednesday at the Dialysis Clinic Inc. in Fairfield. Some riders worry that a new company hired to schedule trips could mean they will not have the same reliable transportation to important appointments. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Concern over a new state contract for nonemergency transportation services has been ongoing over the past year.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services last October awarded its nonemergency transport contract for eligible MaineCare recipients to Modivcare, a for-profit health care services company based in Atlanta that serves 20 states.

Asked why the state of Maine chose Modivcare, DHHS officials provided a written response through department spokeswoman Lindsay Hammes. The statement says the department “provides health and social services to approximately a third of the state’s population, including children, families and older Mainers, and individuals with disabilities, mental illness and substance abuse disorders.” It notes that DHHS is required by state and federal rules to provide nonemergency transport services through a competitive procurement process.

“The department issued a request for proposals last summer and received several proposals from transportation companies and the two community action agencies. The proposals were scored in accordance with the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS) criteria and protocols. Based on the scoring, Modivcare was awarded contracts for all eight transit regions in Maine,” the DHHS statement says.

Penquis, a community action program based in Bangor, which for the last 10 years has been the broker responsible for scheduling rides for eligible MaineCare patients in Somerset and Kennebec counties, appealed that decision. A state-appointed panel upheld the appeal, and now it has returned to court, according to Penquis officials. While that process is ongoing, the state extended the contract with Penquis to the end of this year.

Kara Hay, CEO of the nonprofit Penquis, said she firmly believes the record shows DHHS failed to properly consider the bidders’ past performance when it decided to contract with Modivcare.

DHHS also “failed to fairly and accurately review and score the proposals, and failed to explain how they actually scored the proposals, all of which yielded an unjust, arbitrary and unfair contracted award that will likely be detrimental to Mainers in need for years to come,” Hay said.

“We remain concerned about reliable and quality service to our members, and the impact that this decision would have on transit services in our regions,” she said.

Hay also wrote a letter July 24 about the issue and sent it all Maine legislators, stating that the Modivcare contract “is bad public policy that undermines the state’s established strategies to improve access to transportation.”

Asked to comment on the claims by Hay, Hammes said DHHS could not comment on ongoing litigation. But she said the administrative appeal panel didn’t find “irregularities creating fundamental unfairness” or “that the actions of the DHHS reviewers were arbitrary” in scoring and issuing the contract to Modivcare.

“We expect that, should they prevail in the appeal, Modivcare will provide transportation services in the regions now served by Penquis and Waldo (community action programs) with the same level of service it provides for the regions already served by Modivcare,” the DHHS statement said.