Youngstown Daily Legal News

More wheelchair-accessible taxis sought

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: December 23, 2015

Rep. Christie Kuhns, D-Cincinnati, has said equal access to America’s private transportation fleets is a matter of fundamental fairness.

“Significant growth in the number of wheelchair-accessible taxi vehicles in the years ahead may make it easier for workers with disabilities to enter the labor force or to return to work,” she said.

“Ohio should lead on the issue of accessible transport.”

House Bill 365, a bipartisan measure sponsored by Kuhns and Rep. Mark Romanchuk, R-Mansfield, would modify state law in an effort to make taxis more accessible to individuals in wheelchairs.

“In 1990, when the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, most wheelchairs were manual and could be folded or stowed for transportation purposes. Today, 25 years later, wheelchairs are in common use and people who use them have few, if any, transportation alternatives,” Kuhns said, adding that accessible taxis are rare in Ohio.

Under current law, an accessible taxi is defined as an “ambulette” and is subject to rules for ambulette certification, maintenance and licensure.

The term “ambulette” implies the availability of limited medical service during transportation.

“However, a person requiring the use of a wheelchair does not automatically require the immediate availability of any form of medical service and this assumption has the effect of limiting transportation options,” Kuhns said.

“This incorrect definition increases the cost of providing wheelchair-accessible taxi service by requiring extra training and equipment for no reason, based on an assumption that people in wheelchairs are medically fragile, which is not necessarily the case.”

According to a bill summary, HB 365 would modify the ambulette service licensing requirement by limiting it to nonemergency medical service organizations that provide services only for the purpose of transporting individuals who are medically fragile and may use a wheelchair or other mobility aid.

Corresponding changes would be made in the description of a vehicle that is used as an ambulette.

The bill defines “medically fragile” as meaning that a person’s medical condition is such that both of the following apply: at all times the person is chronically dependent upon the care of a skilled health care provider or a specially trained family or foster family member, as well as the ready availability of skilled health care supervision; and if the technology, support and services the person receives are interrupted or denied and the person does not receive immediate intervention by a trained health care provider, the person’s medical condition may be irreversibly damaged or the person may die.

During many hours of testimony in the Finance Health and Human Services Subcommittee, Romanchuk said lawmakers heard from a large number of constituents who testified about new Home and Community-Based Services regulations from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“These new regulations require states to move Medicaid waiver recipients from segregated, institutional-type settings to integrated, community settings. As a result of these regulations, individuals will need more transportation options in order to work and live in the community,” he said.

Romanchuk went on to tout the bill’s proposed changes to the ambulette licensing requirements.

“In districts like mine where public transportation is few and far between, this legislation will provide more options for people in wheelchairs to go to grocery stores, doctors’ appointments, their places of employment, restaurants or even to the library,” he said.

“This bill will allow for a lower cost means of transportation.”

Kuhns said eliminating the requirements of accessible taxis to be governed as ambulettes will reduce the cost of operation.

“Additionally, this legislation will remove barriers to any person requiring the use of a wheelchair by increasing travel options and thereby maximizing a citizen’s ability to participate in the community and local economy,” she said.

“This will help ensure that Ohio is a place where our ever-increasing population of seniors, people with disabilities and wounded warriors can fully participate in our communities.”

HB 365 is before the House Health and Aging Committee.

The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Steve Hambley, Stephanie Howse, Michele Lepore-Hagan, Michael O’Brien, Alicia Reece and Nickie Antonio.

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