Dignity in Motion: Reforming Maternal Medicaid Transportation
To fix transportation barriers for Medicaid users, the Amplifying Voices Report (2024) provides a "roadmap" of recommendations centered on increasing reliability, dignity, and flexibility. According to the listening sessions with Black mothers, current systems are often described as "dehumanizing," requiring users to wake up as early as 4 a.m. for appointments only to be left waiting hours for return rides 1, 2.
The following solutions were proposed to address these systemic failures:
1. Systemic Overhaul and Prioritization
Prioritize Maternal Care: The Medicaid transportation system should be overhauled to specifically prioritize pregnant and postpartum users to ensure they do not miss critical prenatal or follow-up visits 3.
Expand Reimbursement Options: Funding should be expanded for non-emergency medical transportation to include more flexible options beyond traditional van services 4.
On-Demand Services: Instead of rigid, pre-scheduled vans, the sources recommend funding on-demand ride services (such as Uber Health) specifically for pregnant and postpartum women 3, 5.
2. Improving Reliability and Efficiency
Strict Ride Windows: Policy changes should require ride windows to be no more than 60 minutes before or after a scheduled appointment to prevent the hours-long wait times that currently disrupt employment and childcare 3.
Tech-Enabled Tracking: Utilizing ride tracking and alerts can improve transparency and reliability, allowing mothers to know exactly when their transport will arrive 3.
Vouchers for Care-Related Errands: Transportation support should extend beyond the doctor's office by providing vouchers for pharmacy stops or other care-related errands
3. Enhancing Dignity and Safety
Private and Supportive Options: For the safety and comfort of new mothers, the system should offer private or women-only ride options and allow trusted family members or support persons to ride along with the patient 3.
Culturally Responsive Communication: Dispatchers should be trained in clear, culturally responsive communication to resolve booking confusion and language barriers 3.
Coordinated Clinic Access: Medical facilities should ensure lobbies open early to accommodate those dropped off well before their appointments, preventing mothers from waiting outside in unsafe or uncomfortable conditions 3.
4. Provider and Policy Flexibility
Grace Periods: Clinics should implement grace periods and scheduling flexibility for patients using transportation services so they are not penalized or canceled if a ride arrives late 6.
Bundled Supports: The sources suggest creating bundled supports that combine transportation with other essential needs like food, diapers, and care access to reduce the number of separate trips a mother must manage 4.
Ending "Emergency" Solutions: The system must be fixed so that mothers are never told to go to the ER simply because they missed a narrow return-ride window, a practice that currently highlights how broken the existing infrastructure is 3.
Taylor, C. (2025, April). Amplifying Voices Findings Report: Findings from conversations with 31 Black mothers on their prenatal and postpartum care experiences. The Empowerment Foundation. https://amplifyingvoices.portal.fora.io/
