Modivcare in California: How to Get Medi-Cal Plan Rides (2027)

Modivcare has no statewide contract in California. Each Medi-Cal health plan picks who arranges its members’ rides, and seven plans pick Modivcare. It takes their ride requests and sends each trip to a transportation company in its California network. For how Medi-Cal rides work across the state, see the California guide. For Modivcare’s programs in other states, see the Modivcare guide.

Which plans and counties Modivcare covers in California

As of September 2026, Modivcare’s California facility site and the plans’ own pages name these seven Medi-Cal plans. The counties come from the plan pages of the Medi-Cal provider manual (updated December 2023 and December 2024).

Plan	Counties	Member ride line
Health Net	Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mono, Tuolumne	855-253-6863
Anthem Blue Cross	Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mono, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Tulare, Tuolumne	877-931-4755
CalViva Health	Fresno, Kings, Madera	855-253-6864
CalOptima Health	Orange	833-648-7528
Alameda Alliance for Health	Alameda	866-791-4158
San Francisco Health Plan	San Francisco	855-251-7098
Community Health Plan of Imperial Valley	Imperial	855-251-7097

Together they reach 21 of California’s 58 counties. In 13 of them, every Medi-Cal plan on the manual’s list other than Kaiser Permanente uses Modivcare: Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kings, Madera, Mono, Orange, San Francisco, Tulare, and Tuolumne. If you drive in one of those counties, Modivcare is the main door to Medi-Cal plan trips.

A few limits on that table:

• Health Net medical groups. Modivcare handles rides for Health Net members assigned to a direct network provider or to a shared-risk medical group. Medical groups and hospitals that carry the risk for transportation arrange their own rides, so you can offer your service to them directly.
• Los Angeles County. Modivcare serves Health Net’s Medi-Cal members there. L.A. Care, the county’s local initiative plan, works with Call the Car. See the Los Angeles County page.
• Orange County. CalOptima Health moved all Medi-Cal and OneCare rides to Modivcare on April 1, 2024. Modivcare takes members of Community-Based Adult Services (CBAS) centers to medical appointments, but not between home and the center. See CalOptima Health.
• San Francisco. On December 1, 2024, San Francisco Health Plan put Modivcare in charge of its network of transportation vendors. With that change, a ride from a hospital or nursing home to home needs a PCS form.

Modivcare’s California pages also list ride lines for Medicare, dual, and commercial plans: CalOptima’s OneCare Medicare and Medi-Cal plan (866-612-1256), San Francisco Health Plan’s dual plan (855-251-7099), Health Net’s commercial HMO (866-842-0675), UnitedHealthcare Medicare plans (866-418-9812), and an HCSC group retiree plan (866-824-1566).

What you need before Modivcare can send you trips

Medi-Cal enrollment comes first. Under DHCS All Plan Letter 22-008 (May 18, 2022), every company that drives plan rides must enroll in Medi-Cal through the DHCS PAVE portal, and a plan may use you for up to 120 days while your application is pending. Modivcare itself does not have to enroll, because it only schedules rides and does not drive them. The California guide covers the PAVE forms, fees, van rules, and the Bureau of Automotive Repair VSSI certificate that van applications have needed since March 27, 2025.

How to apply to Modivcare in California

1. Pick your counties from the table and note which plans run there.
2. Start your PAVE application, and include fee-for-service enrollment.
3. Send Modivcare’s Become a Transportation Provider form. Choose CA as your primary service state and give your base county. The Modivcare guide lists every field and the driver, vehicle, and insurance checks that follow.
4. Follow up through the Transportation Provider Support Form, which handles application status questions.
5. Ask the facilities you serve to name you. When long-term care members moved from fee-for-service Medi-Cal into Alameda Alliance in 2023, the Alliance told nursing homes that Modivcare can contract with the transportation companies they already use. It also warned that after a 90-day continuity-of-care period, claims from companies outside Modivcare’s network would be denied. See how to get facility contracts.

How much notice you get on California trips

Modivcare books rides by phone, through its TripCare portal for facilities, and through the member app. Each plan sets how far ahead its members must call:

Plan	Notice members give	As of
Health Net Medi-Cal	Wheelchair, gurney, and non-emergency ambulance: 48 hours. Sedan or taxi: 24 hours. Rideshare: within 1 hour	September 9, 2025
Community Health Plan of Imperial Valley	Wheelchair and gurney: 48 hours. Car, taxi, or rideshare: 24 hours. Bus passes: 5 days	October 16, 2023
Anthem Blue Cross	5 business days, or 7 for a new rider	September 2026
San Francisco Health Plan	5 business days for any ride	September 2026
Alameda Alliance	3 business days	September 2026

In Health Net and Imperial Valley counties, a wheelchair trip can land on your schedule two days out. Hospital discharges come faster. Modivcare takes discharge requests on the member’s plan line 24 hours a day and asks hospitals to call at least 2 hours ahead when they can, and Health Net warns that a discharge pickup can take 1 to 4 hours depending on which provider is free. A move from an acute hospital to a nursing or psychiatric facility must happen within 3 hours under APL 22-008, or the hospital may call a company outside the network. See hospital discharge transportation.

Imperial Valley’s October 2023 booklet tells members that drivers wait 15 minutes past the pickup time, and rideshare drivers 5, and that members bring their own wheelchair or car seat. Modivcare’s site asks any member without a wheelchair to say so when booking. Modivcare asks facilities to call its ride line once a ride is 15 minutes late, so run on time or call ahead.

Standing orders

Modivcare’s California standing order covers a member who goes to a program at least 2 days a week for at least 3 months, such as dialysis, mental health care, or adult day care. It stays valid for three months, Modivcare’s staff recertify it, and it is cancelled if the member goes into the hospital. An NEMT standing order needs a PCS form on file. Modivcare’s facility department confirms setup within 5 business days and answers status questions at 866-529-2128. If you drive dialysis riders, give the clinic Modivcare’s California standing order form, which it can fax to 877-601-0535, so the rides are set up once instead of trip by trip. See NEMT standing orders.

Service levels and the PCS form

Modivcare’s California site sorts every ride into one level:

Level	Who rides
Ambulatory	Walks to and from the vehicle alone but cannot use the bus
Wheelchair	Uses a wheelchair and needs a lift or ramp vehicle and driver help
Gurney	Moves to a stretcher with little help, cannot sit in a wheelchair, and needs no medical monitoring. Oxygen only if the member manages it or medical staff set it up at both ends
BLS ambulance	Confined to bed or needs monitoring, such as oxygen the member cannot manage
SCT or ALS ambulance	Needs advanced monitoring, such as an IV, a heart monitor, or a tracheotomy

The gurney level is what Medi-Cal bills as a litter van trip (T2005). See stretcher van. Health Net also counts a rider who needs a hand or uses a walker, cane, or crutches as NEMT, which it calls ambulatory door-to-door, and gives it the same 48-hour notice as a wheelchair ride.

For NEMT rides, the member’s doctor or another listed prescriber signs a Physician Certification Statement (PCS) on the plan’s own form. The level on it is the level you drive. APL 22-008 bars plans and brokers from changing it or downgrading NEMT to NMT unless the prescriber checked more than one type. Health Net’s February 2025 form says no one can change it once it is sent, so a rider who now needs a gurney needs a new form. See NEMT medical necessity forms.

Plan	Where the PCS goes	Longest it lasts
Health Net, CalViva, Imperial Valley	Health Net Care Ride Unit, fax 833-701-0051	One year, for a chronic condition
Anthem Blue Cross	Modivcare Utilization Review, fax 877-457-3352	12 months
CalOptima Health	CalOptima Utilization Management, fax 714-338-3153 (urgent 714-571-2424)	12 months
Alameda Alliance	The Alliance, fax 510-747-4130	12 months
San Francisco Health Plan	SFHP transportation coordinator, fax 415-357-1292	12 months

Modivcare’s California Utilization Department answers PCS questions at 866-666-8645.

What Modivcare pays in California

Your rate comes from your contract with Modivcare. For comparison, Medi-Cal’s fee-for-service maximum is $20.30 for a wheelchair van trip (A0130), $26.29 for a litter van trip (T2005), and $1.50 a mile (A0380), on the codes page updated September 2023. Those are the most DHCS pays enrolled companies for fee-for-service members, so they make a useful benchmark when you negotiate broker rates.

Payment depends on the trip going through Modivcare. For the Health Net members Modivcare serves, Health Net requires every medical group, hospital, and nursing facility to book rides with Modivcare, and a claim for a ride booked around it may be denied. Alameda Alliance’s 2023 alert said the same for companies outside Modivcare’s network. If a facility calls you directly for a plan member, ask it to book the trip with Modivcare first.

On January 1, 2027, Medi-Cal members with unsatisfactory immigration status leave the plans for fee-for-service Medi-Cal, under a DHCS notice of September 11, 2026. Their rides move out of Modivcare’s plans, and only companies enrolled in fee-for-service Medi-Cal can bill for them.

Who to call at Modivcare in California

For	Contact
Joining the network	Become a Transportation Provider form, on modivcare.com
Application status and provider questions	Transportation Provider Support Form, on modivcare.com
California Operations Office	877-917-8166
Facility ride requests, standing orders, and TripCare sign-up	Facility line 866-529-2128, fax 877-601-0535
PCS questions	California Utilization Department, 866-666-8645
Health Net NEMT approvals	Care Ride Unit, fax 833-701-0051
CalOptima Health providers	Provider Relations, 714-246-8600
Member mileage claims	Modivcare Claims, 800-930-9060

What to do first

1. Find your county in the plan table and write down each plan that runs there.
2. Start or update your PAVE enrollment, fee-for-service included, before the January 2027 change.
3. Send Modivcare’s provider form with CA as your primary state and your base county.
4. Visit the dialysis clinics and nursing homes near you with Modivcare’s standing order form and the facility line.
5. Where other plans in your county use other arrangers, such as L.A. Care in Los Angeles County, apply there too. See working with more than one broker and contracting with Medicaid health plans.