Veyo, a non-emergency medical transportation company and a contractor for Connecticut’s Medicaid program, plans to hire 500 drivers across the state over the next month.
In a statement, the San Diego-based firm said it’s aiming to expand its independent driver-provider fleet — a model similar to commercial rideshare networks — as the push to vaccinate Connecticut residents continues and vulnerable populations, particularly seniors and those with mobility issues, emerge from COVID-19-imposed isolation for long-delayed checkups and treatments.
“There is a growing need for reliable transportation to vaccinations and routine medical care, and we’re committed to meeting those needs,” said Josh Komenda, Veyo’s president and CEO. “We’re excited to launch Veyo’s driver hiring initiative and add to Connecticut’s momentum as we turn the corner on the pandemic.”
The company said it is guaranteeing all new independent contract drivers $7,500 in trip earnings once they complete a required number of trips within a certain number of days, plus sign-on benefits of up to $900.
Similar to driving for rideshare services such as Uber or Lyft, drivers use their own vehicles and set their own schedules.
Veyo provides non-emergency medical transportation services for HUSKY A, B and D members and limited benefit members who cannot drive themselves to medical appointments and do not have relatives, friends or others available to bring them.
The company, which won its first contract with the state Department of Social Services in 2018, has faced numerous complaints from Medicaid patients who claimed Veyo drivers were over an hour late in picking them up for appointments and sometimes failed to show up at all. Those accusations led to fines and an audit, which in 2020 concluded that Veyo occasionally altered statistics retroactively, including its calculation of on-time trips, and at some points stopped passing on certain data to DSS.
The company adopted some of the recommendations included in the audit but disputed the state’s findings concerning data collection and other matters, insisting that it only sought to update statistics to make them more accurate, not make itself look better on paper.
