Uber has a new service that will appeal to some seniors needing a ride

[wondermint2]

Uber introduces a business travel option as it builds out enterprise offering

https://www.fastcompany.com/90903483...prise-offering

Uber is catering to the return of post-pandemic corporate travel with the introduction of a business class-like experience called Uber Business Comfort.

The new feature will allow riders to have priority pickup, so their trip requests will be prioritized over non-business travelers. Riders will have access to more legroom, newer cars, more time to meet their driver, custom settings like ideal vehicle temperature, and highly rated drivers in this new enterprise offering. Uber is also launching a designated support service for Business Comfort riders.

[wondermint2]

I no longer own a car and I want to post about my experience with transportation to the dialysis center three days per week.

I have Medicare as my primary insurance and Humana managed Medicaid as my secondary insurance. Medicare won't pay for dialysis transportation but Humana managed Medicaid (as well as other FL managed Medicaid plans) will pay for all medical transportation.

"Medicaid reimburses for medically necessary non-emergency transportation services for a Medicaid eligible recipient and a personal care attendant or escort, if required, who have no other means of transportation available to any Medicaid compensable service."

Most FL managed Medicaid care plans utilize a transportation company called ModivCare. ModivCare has a contract with the state of FL.

https://www.modivcare.com/facilities/fl

When I first started utilizing ModivCare back in January for transportation to my dialysis sessions their service was very poor. ModivCare was scheduling me with mom & pop healthcare transportation providers that were unreliable. Often times the drivers didn't show up. And trying to call in to ModivCare for a replacement ride sometimes took hours for a replacement ride. Things got so bad that I went ahead and filed a complaint with the BBB.

However now I must report that my recent experiences with ModivCare have completly turned around and recently things are smooth as butter. The 4 major things that turned around my experiences with ModivCare:

1) Filing a complaint with the BBB. To their credit unlike some other companies ModivCare actually responded to my BBB complaint and made a sincere effort to improve.

2) I requested Uber Health as my first choice for all medical rides ordered through ModivCare. UberHealth has more drivers so they are almost always on time and cancellations are much less compared to the mom & pop companies. And on the rare instance when UberHealth cancels a trip when I subsequently call into ModivCare for a replacement ride they usually find me one within 30 minutes.

https://www.uberhealth.com/

3) Make sure you use a cell phone when you utilize ModivCare! I don't like cell phones and back in January I tried using ModivCare without a cell phone tied to my account. That was a big mistake. Without a cell phone when rides were cancelled I wasn't notified. Modivcare does not call riders to notify them that a ride was cancelled - they will only send a text.

Now with UberHealth (through ModivCare) I get a text message the day before my scheduled ride, also thirty minutes before the scheduled ride, and then lastly I get another text about 15 minutes before pickup (when an UberHealth driver has accepted the ride) - this text states the driver's first name, make, model, color & license plate of the car along with estimated time of arrival. There is also a link to track the driver in real time with real time estimated time of arrival.

4) UberHealth drivers use a location app to find you and sometimes it is off a bit. Sometimes the drivers might go down the road a bit or across the street. Not all UberHealth drivers are equally adept at finding the exact location. Thus what I do is when according to the location app the driver is 2 minutes away I go stand outside my location so I'm easier to find.

[1rainman]

I tried to do cash with Lyft. It's the same program. I just can't get my id verified with Uber due to my cheap phone I guess. It's some thing where you load money from your bank card into "Lyft cash" or "uber cash" I don't understand it but I could not pay with real cash so I just used my card.

It's a lot better on the driver's to get cash tips and such because by the time you pay taxes, wear and tear etc you don't make much unless you pay a tax person a lot of money to do complicated deductions which poor people aren't going to do. But 95% of the time I'm too lazy to do a cash tip.

All these door dash, Uber etc is a rip off where the company takes a big chunk of the drivers money and they live off tips. Though I get a lot of the same drivers being in a relatively small town and many of them in Florida are retired or have a second real job.