The Monroe County commissioners approved funding for the Medical Assistance Transportation Program during their meeting on May 6. Between Fiscal Year 2026-27 and the third quarter report for FY 2025-26, the funding amounts to $792,805.95.

FY 2026-27 Medical Assistance Transportation Program in the amount of $678,224; and FY 2025-26 Medical Assistance Transportation third quarter report is $114,581.95.

Resident Theresa Pesce asked for more information about the program and who qualifies for it.

The program is known as the Shared Ride Program operated by the Monroe County Transit Authority, also known as the Pocono Pony. Chief Clerk Robert Gress explained that the program covers the cost of transportation to take people, who meet certain financial criteria to qualify, to their medical appointments.

“Medical appointments only,” Gress said. “So it’s only to and from medical appointments, get prescriptions or their doctor.”

Commissioner John Christy, chairman of the commissioners, added that people qualify based on need, not by age.

Gress said, “The state reimburses the county, so the county fronts the money, and the state reimburses the county this much quarterly.”

Gress said that the FY 2026-27 number is an estimate that the transit authority is using for their budget next year. The county signs a contract to fund the program and the reimbursements it gets from the state replenishes the fund.

The commissioners also approved agreements with T-Mobile for Governments: 22 Sonim XP Pros at monthly charge of $387.16; 218 iPhone 17e, 2 iPad Tablets and 19 Hotspots Unlimited at monthly rate of $6,824.16, annual charge of $81,889.92; E-Cycle trade in of 198 cellphones, total maximum payment of $20,731 per quote; and Starlink/Everlink 1 Mobility Kit for $2,499 for equipment and a monthly rate of $65.

Commissioner David Parker said the T-Mobile agreement will save the county “a lot of money.

Christy responded, “It does, and it gets us all. The Starlink can be utilized by the emergency management, which we utilize at the racetrack. We also have extra hotspots that, what happens whenever the race happens, everybody gets on their phones to … and the cell service goes down, but ours will be able to stay up because of the Starlink, which is very important.

Parker also spoke about the Securus Technologies Master Services Agreement approved by the commissioners. The agreement is for the inmate telephone system at the Monroe County Correctional Facility.

Parker said he wanted to “just point out this should actually save inmates money on communication.” He said the Martha Wright-Reed Act “slashed incarcerated communication fees. That’s one thing we want to do is enable our inmates to communicate with their families, and this will help do that at a much lower rate.”

The board also amended three items approved in past meetings. They are:

• From the April 15 meeting — Monroe County Parking Garage Maintenance bid to Sealcrete Contracting LLC. The base bid is actually $530,755, not $530,775. Alternate 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 totaling $28,080 are unchanged.

• From the April 15 meeting — Increasing contract amount with technology company Thomson Reuters to $303,302.34 due to extended timeline and contract extension;

• From the Jan. 21 meeting — Reflect the change of Contract Service Provider Agreement with David Gaspar, esquire, for special public defender, ARM Lawyers LLC.