Transportation broker

Definition

A middleman a state may put between Medicaid and the operators, paid a capitated rate.

Why It Matters

Federal rule lets a state run its transport benefit through a broker instead of paying operators directly, and which model a state uses decides what kind of business this is. Under a broker the operator has one customer, a bid cycle, and a price it did not set; without one it bills the program. The same rule bars a broker from owning the providers it dispatches to, so the obvious consolidation is closed off. Establish the model in the target's own state before pricing anything.