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Mount Kisco-based United Transportation Providers of Westchester County, Inc. will be shutting down its ambulette services for Westchester residents with serious medical conditions and mobility difficulties at the end of the day on Friday, March 8, the company announced.
The decision to end services came as a result of financial hardship. According to the company, the service cannot continue to operate while being reimbursed at 30 percent less than the cost of ambulette trips by the New York State Department of Health.
The company also said that ambulette services in Westchester have not had a rate increase in 20 years, and that ambulette companies throughout the New York City metropolitan area are closing in "record numbers," with at least 35 closings since 2019.
State Senate Health Chair Gustavo Rivera commented on the shutdown.
"We should all be concerned that non-emergency ambulette companies are shutting down services for Medicaid enrollees due to inadequate reimbursement rates," Rivera said, adding, "Low-income New Yorkers rely on these services to make it to appointments with their doctors, dialysis treatment, and preventive care for chronic illnesses."
The shutdown is estimated to affect around 1,000 medical trips a day.
The company held a press conference on Friday morning at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital to address the decision to shut down services.
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