'Broken system.' Disabled man stranded by Medicaid transport before surgery
Corey Taylor believes his experience highlights systemic issues with how the state assigns transportation.
More Stories
A 37-year-old Middletown man says he missed a long-awaited surgery at NYU last week because his Medicaid medical transport never showed up — and he’s now speaking out to hold the system accountable.
Corey Taylor was born with a craniofacial anomaly that left him legally blind and has required dozens of surgeries since he was an infant. He says the latest surgery, which was scheduled for Sept. 3 in Manhattan, would have lifted his eyelids to improve his vision and appearance.
Taylor says he booked a ride through New York state’s Medical Answering Services (MAS) website, which assigns Medicaid transportation to local providers. He was scheduled with B & D Taxi in Walden.
“I confirmed it over and over — even the morning of. But no one came,” he said. “I was gutted.”
When News 12 called B & D Taxi, a representative said they notified MAS the day before that they couldn’t cover Taylor’s trip.
“We didn’t have availability for the day of his surgery…that has to do with MAS,” the company said.
Taylor shared his frustration on social media, saying missing the procedure was devastating.
“This is a surgery I waited for all my life. I shouldn't look this way right now. I shouldn't even be making this video,” he said in a Facebook video.
He believes his experience highlights systemic issues with how the state assigns transportation.
“The medical transport website doesn’t go by locality. They basically say it’s a lottery — whoever comes up first,” Taylor explained. “The system just has names. So, unless it says Middletown cab, you don’t know where you’re getting these people from.”
Taylor says what happened to him could have been catastrophic for someone else.
“What if this was somebody going through cancer treatment or prepared for heart surgery? This could’ve been life-threatening,” he said. “That’s why I’m doing this. I want the system accountable and the provider accountable because it’s not OK for a disabled person to be treated like we are less than.”
Taylor’s surgery has now been rescheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 16. He says he’ll be using a different MAS transportation provider and hopes this time he’ll make it to the hospital.
“It’s just a lot,” he said. “It’s been a long journey — and it’s not over yet.”
A representative for the New York State Department of Health declined to comment, saying the department is aware of the incident and that it is under investigation.
