SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Medical Answering Services, LLC (MAS) will continue providing Medicaid-transportation services to the Hudson Valley region.
The New York State Department of Health has extended its contract with MAS for an additional five years, Russ Maxwell, CEO of MAS, announced in a news conference Thursday morning.
“I’m proud to announce here today that we have been awarded a five-year extension for our Hudson Valley contract. That saves 350 jobs right here in Syracuse,” said Maxwell.
With the new contract, MAS will also create an additional 50 positions, he added.
Launched in 2004, MAS is headquartered at 375 W. Onondaga St. in Syracuse. It also has a Buffalo office, where it employs 50 people.
MAS serves Medicaid recipients who can’t afford to travel to their doctor appointments, said Maxwell.
Their health plans, he noted, include a benefit that helps them travel to those appointments.
The firm’s most recent contract to serve the Hudson Valley was scheduled to expire at the end of May, he said.
The state Health Department near the end of 2015 solicited bids for the next contract. MAS reapplied, along with other New York and out-of-state organizations, Maxwell said.
MAS manages transportation options that could include a bus ticket, a taxi-cab ride, or an ambulette (a specially equipped van) for someone who needs assistance.
“Or it might be an ambulance for someone who needs to go from an acute-care setting to another acute-care setting for a treatment that may not have been available in their rural-hospital system,” said Maxwell.
MAS manages Medicaid transportation for a total of 55 counties, having won contracts in four consecutive bid solicitations with the state Health Department dating back to 2011, the company said.
“In the Hudson Valley contract over the last five years, we’ve saved the state over $100 million. Statewide, over $200 million from 2011 to today,” Maxwell contended.
The company has developed a web-based application that allows it to manage close to 15 million trips a year, he added.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com