Medicaid transportation phone number: how to find yours

Last updated 2026-07-23

Is there one national medicaid transportation phone number?

No. This trips up a lot of people searching this exact phrase, so let's clear it up first. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program. The federal government, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), sets the baseline rule that states must ensure "necessary transportation for beneficiaries to and from providers" under 42 CFR 431.53 ^[1]. But CMS doesn't run a call center. Each state Medicaid agency designs its own non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefit, and most states then hand the day-to-day scheduling to a private broker. That means the phone number you need depends entirely on which state you're in, and sometimes which county or region within that state, because some states split contracts geographically. Georgia, for example, uses different regional brokers depending on where a member lives. Texas runs NEMT through its Medicaid Transportation Program with regional contacts. There's no shortcut around checking your own state. The fastest real path: go to your state Medicaid agency's official website (a .gov domain), search "non-emergency medical transportation" or "NEMT," and look for the member phone line. If you can't find it, call the general Medicaid member services number on your Medicaid card and ask them to route you. If you're calling because you're trying to become a driver or a transportation provider rather than book a ride, you want a completely different contact: provider enrollment or the broker's credentialing department, not the member ride line. We cover that split below.

Who do i call to book a ride (member phone numbers)?

If you're a Medicaid member or a caregiver trying to schedule a ride to a medical appointment, you call whichever broker or agency your state has assigned to your region, confirm with your state Medicaid agency directly since these change. A few well-known national brokers hold contracts across many states: Modivcare (formerly LogistiCare), MTM (Medical Transportation Management), Access2Care, and SafeRide Health. But the same broker might use a different toll-free number in Ohio than it does in Florida, because each state contract is negotiated separately. There is no universal 1-800 number that works everywhere. Some states run NEMT in-house instead of contracting it out, so the member calls a state Medicaid transportation unit directly rather than a private broker. Confirm with your state Medicaid agency which model applies to you. Most programs want a ride request at least 48 to 72 hours before a non-urgent appointment, though this window varies by state and by whether the trip is urgent. Check your state's specific rule before you plan around it.

What is nemt (non-emergency medical transportation)?

NEMT stands for non-emergency medical transportation. It's the Medicaid benefit that pays for rides to and from covered medical services for people who have no other way to get there, and who don't need an ambulance or emergency response. CMS describes this as part of states' obligation to "assure necessary transportation for beneficiaries to and from providers" and to "assure that beneficiaries have no trouble obtaining transportation to covered Medicaid services" ^[1]. In practice, NEMT covers rides in wheelchair vans, ambulatory sedans, and sometimes public transit reimbursement, for trips to things like dialysis, physical therapy, methadone clinics, prenatal visits, and routine doctor appointments. NEMT is not an ambulance. It's not for emergencies. It's the everyday ride for people managing chronic conditions or disabilities who need a lift, a fold-down ramp, or just a reliable driver because they can't drive themselves and don't have family nearby. States deliver this benefit in different ways: broker-managed (a company like Modivcare or MTM handles scheduling and dispatch), managed care organization-managed (built into a Medicaid health plan's transportation network), or state-run (the Medicaid agency schedules trips directly). Your state's Medicaid transportation page will tell you which model applies. For background on how the broader NEMT industry works, see non emergency medical transportation and nemt transportation.

Does medicaid cover ambulance rides?

Yes, but it's a separate benefit from NEMT, with different rules and different billing codes. Medicaid covers emergency ambulance transportation in every state, and many states also cover non-emergency ambulance transport when a person's medical condition requires it (for example, someone who must stay lying flat or needs oxygen monitoring during transport, and a wheelchair van won't do). The distinction that matters: NEMT brokers handle wheelchair vans and ambulatory rides where the passenger doesn't need medical monitoring. Ambulance transport, whether emergency or non-emergency, is billed separately, usually directly to Medicaid or the managed care plan, not through the NEMT broker. Coverage details, prior authorization requirements, and reimbursement rates for ambulance transport vary by state. Confirm with your state Medicaid agency what documentation a provider needs to bill for non-emergency ambulance trips, since some states require a physician's certification of medical necessity before they'll pay.

Does medicare cover medical transportation?

Medicare's coverage of transportation is much narrower than Medicaid's. Original Medicare generally does not cover routine non-emergency medical transportation the way Medicaid's NEMT benefit does. Medicare Part B covers emergency ambulance transportation when other transport would endanger the person's health, and in limited cases it covers non-emergency ambulance transport if a doctor documents that it's medically necessary, under the ambulance benefit rules at 42 CFR Part 410, Subpart B ^[2]. Some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans offer supplemental transportation benefits, like a set number of rides per year to medical appointments, as a plan extra rather than a core Medicare benefit. Availability, ride limits, and how to book them depend entirely on the specific Medicare Advantage plan, so a member has to check their plan's Evidence of Coverage document. For someone who qualifies for both Medicare and Medicaid (a "dual eligible"), Medicaid's NEMT benefit typically fills that gap, since Medicaid still applies its transportation assurance requirement under 42 CFR 431.53 regardless of Medicare status ^[1].

How to start a medical transportation business

Starting a medical transportation business, meaning an NEMT company that transports Medicaid (and often private-pay and Medicare Advantage) passengers, follows roughly the same sequence in every state, even though the specific forms and fees differ. 1. Form your business entity (LLC is common) and get an EIN. 2. Get commercial auto insurance that meets your state's minimum liability limits for passenger transport, and check whether your state requires a specific NEMT or livery endorsement. 3. Buy or lease a vehicle. A used wheelchair-accessible van with a working ramp or lift is the standard starting vehicle for most new owner-operators, since a large share of NEMT demand is wheelchair and stretcher-adjacent riders. 4. Apply for a state Medicaid provider enrollment number. This is separate from broker credentialing and usually goes through your state's Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) provider portal. 5. Apply for credentialing with each broker operating in your area (Modivcare, MTM, Access2Care, SafeRide, or your state's specific contractor). Brokers typically require proof of insurance, vehicle inspection, driver background checks, and sometimes a driving record review going back several years. 6. Get drivers trained and background-checked to the standard your state and broker require, which often includes a fingerprint-based criminal background check and a defensive driving or passenger assistance course. The order matters less than people think. Some owner-operators get the vehicle first because financing takes weeks; others get Medicaid enrollment moving first because that approval can also take weeks. Running both tracks in parallel is usually the efficient move.

How to start an nemt business step by step

An NEMT business is a specific type of medical transportation business, so the steps above apply directly, but a few things are worth calling out separately because new owner-operators miss them. First, state Medicaid provider enrollment and broker credentialing are two different applications with two different reviewers. Getting your Medicaid provider number does not automatically get you into a broker's network, and being accepted by one broker does not automatically enroll you with the state. You typically need both before you can bill for rides in most broker-managed states. Second, insurance requirements for NEMT are usually higher than a standard personal or even standard commercial auto policy. Brokers commonly require combined single limit liability coverage in the range of $1,000,000, though the exact number is set by each broker's contract and can differ by vehicle type. Confirm the specific figure with each broker you apply to, don't assume your existing commercial policy clears the bar. Third, vehicle inspection standards are real and recurring, not a one-time hurdle. Brokers and some states require periodic vehicle inspections (ramps, lifts, tie-downs, interior condition) and will pull a van out of service if it fails. Fourth, background check standards vary by state. Some states bar enrollment for certain criminal history categories going back a set number of years; this is set by state law, not broker preference, so check your state Medicaid provider manual. For a broader look at how brokers structure their networks, see nemt and non emergency medical transportation services.

How to start a medical transportation business with one van

Plenty of NEMT owner-operators start with exactly one wheelchair van and grow from there, so this is a completely normal way to begin, not a compromise. With one van, the main constraints are what kind of trips you can accept and how many you can run in a day. A single wheelchair-accessible van locks you into serving one passenger route at a time (unless you're doing shared rides where your state and broker allow it), so your capacity is limited by hours in the day and drive time between pickups, not by paperwork. The enrollment and credentialing process is identical whether you own one van or twenty. States and brokers care about the vehicle meeting equipment standards (functioning ramp or lift, secured wheelchair tie-downs, proper interior clearance) and about your insurance and driver background checks, not fleet size. A one-van operation with clean paperwork often gets approved faster than a multi-vehicle applicant juggling several driver files at once. The practical bottleneck for a one-van operator is usually broker assignment volume once you're credentialed, not the credentialing itself, since brokers route trips algorithmically across their approved network and a new provider often starts with a smaller trip allocation. Ask your broker directly during onboarding how new providers get ramped into their trip rotation.

How do you start a medical transportation business (documents and costs to expect)

Entity formation, EIN	You, state Sec. of State	Days
Commercial insurance policy	Insurance broker	1-2 weeks
Vehicle purchase/inspection	You, state inspection station	Varies
State Medicaid provider enrollment	State MMIS portal	Weeks to a couple months
Broker credentialing (Modivcare, MTM, etc.)	Broker portal	Weeks
Driver background checks/training	State or broker-approved vendor	1-3 weeks	These timings are typical ranges reported by owner-operators and broker onboarding pages, not guarantees; confirm current processing times with your specific state Medicaid agency and broker. If you want a structured way to track every document across both the state enrollment side and the broker credentialing side, that's exactly the gap RideCredential's $199 one-time Launch Kit is built to close: state and broker paperwork checklists in one place, not a guarantee of approval from anyone.

Budgeting for NEMT startup costs is one of the most common questions from new owner-operators, and the honest answer is that it varies by state, broker, and vehicle condition, so treat any number here as a range, not a quote. Expect to need, at minimum: a business entity filing (state fees typically run somewhere between $50 and $500 depending on the state and entity type), a commercial auto insurance policy meeting broker minimums, a wheelchair-accessible vehicle that passes inspection, an EIN from the IRS (free, done online), a state Medicaid provider enrollment application (fee varies by state; CMS sets an annual application fee under Section 1866(j)(2)(C)(i)(I) of the Social Security Act, which was $709 for institutional providers in 2024 per CMS's annual fee update, though many NEMT provider types are not subject to this fee at all, so confirm with your state ^[3]), and broker credentialing paperwork (usually no direct fee from the broker, but you're paying for the insurance and inspections that back it up). Here's a rough shape of the process: | Step | Who handles it | Typical timing |

What is the difference between medicaid provider enrollment and broker credentialing?

This confuses almost every new NEMT owner-operator, so it's worth spelling out plainly. Medicaid provider enrollment is your registration with the state Medicaid agency itself. It gives you a Medicaid provider number and the legal ability to bill Medicaid for services. It's governed by state Medicaid regulations and, at the federal level, by provider screening rules CMS sets under 42 CFR Part 455, which require states to screen providers at defined risk levels with things like license checks, background checks, and site visits ^[4]. Broker credentialing is a separate, private-sector process. Modivcare, MTM, Access2Care, and SafeRide each run their own network enrollment for transportation providers who want to receive trip assignments in states where that broker holds the state's NEMT contract. The broker checks your insurance, vehicle condition, driver files, and often runs its own background verification, independent of what the state already required. You generally need both to actually operate and get paid: state enrollment to bill Medicaid legally, broker credentialing to receive ride assignments in a broker-managed state. Skipping either one leaves you unable to work in that state's Medicaid NEMT system.

How long does medicaid nemt provider enrollment take?

There's no single national timeline, and any specific number you see online should be treated skeptically unless it's sourced to your exact state's Medicaid agency. State Medicaid provider enrollment processing varies widely by state workload, completeness of your application, and whether your provider type requires extra screening under CMS's risk-based categories (limited, moderate, or high risk) established in 42 CFR 455.450 ^[4]. High-risk provider categories get more scrutiny, including possible site visits and fingerprint-based background checks, which adds time. Broker credentialing timelines run separately and depend on the broker's own queue, your document completeness, and vehicle inspection scheduling. The most reliable move is to ask your specific state Medicaid transportation unit and your target broker directly what their current average processing time is, since these change with staffing and application volume. Don't plan a launch date around a number you found on a forum.

Which broker do i need to be credentialed with (modivcare, mtm, access2care, saferide)?

It depends entirely on which broker holds the NEMT contract in your state, and sometimes your specific region within the state, so there's no universal answer. Modivcare (formerly LogistiCare) and MTM (Medical Transportation Management) are the two largest national NEMT brokers, holding contracts across many states. Access2Care and SafeRide Health hold contracts in a smaller number of states and regions. Some states split contracts by region, meaning Modivcare might run one part of the state while MTM or a regional broker runs another. Some states don't use a broker model at all and instead manage NEMT directly through the state Medicaid agency or through each Medicaid managed care organization's own transportation network. The only reliable way to know which broker (or brokers) you need to apply to is checking your state Medicaid agency's transportation page directly, since contracts get rebid and can change hands between brokers every few years. For a comparison of how these broker relationships work across states, see medical transportation and emergency medical transport for how urgent transport differs from the NEMT process.

Frequently asked questions

What phone number do I call for Medicaid transportation?

There's no single number. Each state Medicaid agency assigns NEMT scheduling to either a broker (like Modivcare or MTM) or handles it directly, and the number differs by state and sometimes by region. Check your state Medicaid agency's website or call the member services number on your Medicaid card and ask to be transferred to transportation.

What is NEMT?

NEMT stands for non-emergency medical transportation, the Medicaid benefit covering rides to and from covered medical services for people who have no other transportation and don't need emergency or ambulance-level care. It includes wheelchair vans, ambulatory rides, and sometimes transit reimbursement, delivered through a state agency, managed care plan, or contracted broker.

Does Medicaid cover ambulance rides?

Yes, Medicaid covers emergency ambulance transport in every state, and most states also cover non-emergency ambulance transport when a person's medical condition requires monitoring or lying flat during the trip. This is billed separately from the NEMT broker system; confirm documentation requirements with your state Medicaid agency.

Does Medicare cover medical transportation?

Original Medicare covers emergency ambulance transport and limited medically necessary non-emergency ambulance transport under Part B, but it doesn't offer a routine NEMT-style benefit the way Medicaid does. Some Medicare Advantage plans add supplemental transportation benefits; check the specific plan's Evidence of Coverage for details.

How do I start a medical transportation business?

Form a business entity, get commercial auto insurance meeting your state's minimums, acquire a wheelchair-accessible vehicle that passes inspection, apply for state Medicaid provider enrollment through your state's MMIS portal, and apply for credentialing with each broker operating in your area. Run enrollment and credentialing in parallel since both take weeks.

How do I start an NEMT business specifically?

Follow the same steps as any medical transportation business, but expect two separate applications: state Medicaid provider enrollment and broker credentialing (with Modivcare, MTM, Access2Care, SafeRide, or whichever broker holds your state's contract). You typically need both approved before you can legally bill and receive trip assignments.

Can I start a medical transportation business with just one van?

Yes, plenty of NEMT owner-operators start with a single wheelchair-accessible van. Credentialing standards focus on vehicle condition, insurance, and driver background checks, not fleet size, so a one-van operation with clean paperwork can get approved as fast as a larger fleet.

What's the difference between Medicaid provider enrollment and broker credentialing?

Provider enrollment is registration with your state Medicaid agency that gives you a billing number under state rules and CMS provider screening regulations. Broker credentialing is a separate private-sector process with companies like Modivcare or MTM that determines whether you receive ride assignments in a broker-managed state. You generally need both.

How long does NEMT provider enrollment take?

Timelines vary widely by state workload and by whether your provider category faces extra CMS-mandated screening for higher-risk providers. There's no reliable national average; ask your specific state Medicaid transportation unit and target broker for their current processing time before planning a launch date around it.

Which NEMT broker do I need to apply to?

It depends on which broker holds your state's (or your specific region's) NEMT contract; Modivcare and MTM are the largest national players, with Access2Care and SafeRide Health holding contracts in fewer states. Contracts get rebid periodically, so check your state Medicaid agency's transportation page for the current broker.

Is NEMT the same as an ambulance service?

No. NEMT covers non-emergency rides for people who don't need medical monitoring during transport, using wheelchair vans or ambulatory vehicles. Ambulance transport, whether emergency or non-emergency, requires medical staff and equipment and is billed and regulated separately from the NEMT broker network.

Do I need special insurance to start an NEMT business?

Yes, brokers and states typically require commercial auto liability coverage well above standard personal policy limits, sometimes around $1,000,000 combined single limit, though the exact figure is set by each broker's contract. Confirm the required limit directly with each broker and your state before buying a policy.

What documents do I need for Medicaid NEMT provider enrollment?

Expect to need your business entity filing, EIN, commercial insurance certificate, vehicle registration and inspection records, driver background check results, and a completed state Medicaid provider enrollment application through the MMIS portal. Exact document lists vary by state, so confirm the current checklist with your state Medicaid agency.

Sources

1. Code of Federal Regulations, 42 CFR 431.53 (Assurance of Transportation): States must assure necessary transportation for Medicaid beneficiaries to and from providers
2. Code of Federal Regulations, 42 CFR Part 410, Subpart B (Ambulance Services): Medicare Part B covers emergency and limited medically necessary non-emergency ambulance transport
3. CMS, CY 2024 Medicare Provider Enrollment Application Fee (Federal Register notice): CMS sets an annual provider enrollment application fee under Section 1866(j) of the Social Security Act, which was $709 for CY 2024
4. Code of Federal Regulations, 42 CFR Part 455 (Program Integrity: Medicaid): CMS requires states to screen Medicaid providers at risk-based levels including background checks and site visits
5. Medicaid.gov, Non-Emergency Medical Transportation: Medicaid.gov's overview of the NEMT benefit and state program structure
6. 42 CFR 455.450 (Risk levels for the categorization of providers): CMS establishes limited, moderate, and high risk screening categories for provider enrollment
7. Social Security Act Section 1902(a)(4), as implemented at 42 CFR 431.53: States must comply with regulations the Secretary finds necessary for the proper and efficient operation of the plan, including transportation assurance
8. Texas Health and Human Services, Medical Transportation Program: Texas administers NEMT through its Medical Transportation Program with regional contacts