Turning Point is still able to provide a limited amount of
bus tokens per person per month for medical appointments—a service made
possible through IHS funding—regardless of whether a person has Medicaid.
However, with this new partnership, there is no limit to the number of bus
tokens Turning Point can provide to connect people on Medicaid with medical
appointments. Turning Point is the only agency in Steuben County to offer this
service to the public.
People on Medicaid are able to call MAS to request bus
tokens for medical appointments. The tokens are sent via mail, taking time that
a person may not have the luxury to wait. Medicaid recipients can still choose
this route, but with this new partnership, people on Medicaid don’t have to
wait for their bus tokens to arrive in the mail. Instead, Medicaid recipients
can go directly to any one of four Turning Point locations across Steuben
County for bus tokens to connect with medical appointments.
Turning Point Director Lynda Lowin said, “Turning Point has
been assisting people with transportation needs as part of our services for 20
years. Primarily we offer bus tokens at
no cost for social and human service assistance, for employment interviews or
initial job training until a first paycheck arrives, and also for medical
appointments. Turning Point distributed
over 600 bus tokens in June 2017, and
nearly 50% of them were used to transport 98 people to various medical
appointments.
“Starting in July, with our new status as a Medicaid
Transportation Site, we can give Medicaid members direct, unlimited bus token
assistance to those appointments.
Turning Point staff offer a personal connection to a system that is
statewide, and not easy to navigate using a centralized phone service. With the support of staff, we can engage with
Medicaid members in our office, provide
the tokens and public transportation education and advocacy needed to overcome
transportation barriers. This service is
an important part of Community Navigation services that Turning Point provides
as part of recent Medicaid redesign.”
Turning Point locations include: Turning Point Bath, 23 Liberty Street, Bath,
NY; Turning Point Corning, 1 Park Lane, Corning, NY (co-located with the
Corning Senior Center); Turning Point Hornell, 20 Elm Street, Suite 2, Hornell,
NY; or Steuben County Rural Ministry, 34 West Main Street, Canisteo, NY.
If a person cannot get to a medical appointment by bus,
Medicaid recipients can still call MAS for alternate modes of transportation.
In Steuben County, the MAS number to call is 1-855-733-9401.
Turning Point also provides bus tokens to connect people to
their place of work, other food pantries, the Department of Social Services,
human service agency appointments, and the Bath VA. Bus tokens are made available to Turning
Point to distribute through the generosity of IHS.
