State officials said Monday they hope to improve service and save taxpayers’ money by hiring a company to handle transport of Medicaid patients.

“With this contract, Medicaid beneficiaries who need help getting to and from their doctors appointments will be assured of getting safe, reliable transportation from a provider who meets our standards for quality of service,” said Andrew Allison, who is acting executive director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority.

“And, in the end, we expect this will save the Medicaid program hundreds of thousands of dollars per year,” Allison said.

Pending approval from the federal government, KHPA announced a contract agreement with Medical Transportation Management Inc., based in St. Louis, to manage and coordinate all nonemergency medical transportation for the Kansas Medicaid program.

Currently, Medicaid beneficiaries arrange their own transportation and Medicaid pays on a fee-for-service basis. Under the new contract, the broker will arrange and pay for transportation.

The 5-year contract with MTM is estimated to cost $32.8 million.