AUGUSTA — A bill sponsored by Senator Chloe Maxmin, D-Nobleboro, authorizing a pilot project to provide nonmedical transportation services for people receiving certain services under MaineCare, was approved Thursday by the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.

An amended version of LD 17, “Resolve, To Provide Rural Nonmedical Transportation Services to the Elderly and Adults with Disabilities Receiving Home and Community Benefits under the MaineCare Program,” received a unanimous, bipartisan vote of support from the committee present, with three members absent.

“I’m very happy that the committee saw the value in this legislation,” said Sen. Maxmin. “A lack of transportation affects so many of our neighbors, especially in rural parts of the state. Isolation adversely affects our social, mental, emotional and physical health. We all benefit when our older neighbors, or our neighbors with disabilities, can participate in our communities. This pilot project will give us the information we need to see if expanding transportation services for nonmedical needs is the right fit for our state.”

As amended, LD 17 would require the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to launch a pilot project that would provide nonmedical transportation for some recipients of MaineCare.

Qualifying recipients are elderly Mainers or Mainers with disabilities who would otherwise require nursing facility care but can remain at home with support. These recipients currently qualify for medical transportation services as part of their benefits.

The bill also authorizes a robust study of the pilot project to look at the medical and social benefits of providing nonmedical transportation to these MaineCare recipients. DHHS would then submit a report regarding the costs, effectiveness and future viability of the project to lawmakers by December 2024.

A report from Transportation for America, “the largest, most diverse coalition working on transportation reform,” found that “seniors age 65 and older who no longer drive make 15 percent fewer trips to the doctor, 59 percent fewer trips to shop or eat out, and 65 percent fewer trips to visit friends and family.”

In the 2016 Shared Community Health Needs Assessment for Lincoln County, which Sen. Maxmin represents, transportation is cited as one of the biggest health factors leading to poor health outcomes for people in those communities.

The bill now faces votes in the state Senate and House.