TxDOT Program Placed Medicaid Patients in the Hands of Convicted Criminals and Unlicensed Drivers - Reveals State Audit.

UPDATED BELOW

A new State Auditor's Office report uncovers more problems for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

The Audit reveals that TxDOT’s Medical Transportation Program (MTP), created to transport primarily Medicaid patients to and from doctors appointments, has placed patients in the hands of convicted criminals and unlicensed drivers.

The Audit found that 16 percent of the 239 drivers studied had criminal backgrounds and 14 percent had invalid driver's licenses. On top of the blatant safety issue, TxDOT failed to follow government requirements.

The report focused on four transportation providers in the state: American Medical Response, Irving Holdings, LaFleur Transportation and East Texas Support Services. The audit also found some of the subcontractors hired for the program were not even on TxDOT's approved contractors list.

To date the program has transported about 200,000 Texans. The Texas Medical Transportation Program is a $100 million-a-year taxpayer-financed program.

San Antonio Express News also has an article on this issue today:

The state auditors office reported that transportation officials have been inadequately supervising the companies hired to provide transportation services. Auditors said the department had conducted no monitoring of transportation providers in the San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley areas.

"Auditors visited four of the largest transportation providers and determined that a substantial number of their drivers had criminal backgrounds or invalid driver's licenses," the auditors said. "In addition, a large number of transportation providers' subcontractors did not comply with liability or workers' compensation insurance requirements."

Just months ago, another State Audit report found that TxDOT overestimated it’s needs by $45 Billion dollars, to support the unpopular idea of shifting existing public highways to toll ways.

U P D A T E:

This MTP program was transfered to TxDOT many months ago, is a result of Rep. Mike Krusee's HB 3588, the same legislation that makes it legal to toll our public highways.

And then there is the connection of convicted criminal Pete Peters and TxDOT District Engineer Bob Daigh reported here last year.

TxDOT is a rogue agency severely in need of some accountability. TxDOT is so focused on becoming a unaccountable taxing authority (through placing a toll tax on our existing highways) that it can't even administer the very basics of a simple program. The bureaucratic TxDOT needs to be totally restructured, beginning with the requirement that TxDOT commissioners are elected, not appointed.