How to Become a Partnership HealthPlan Transportation Provider in 2027: Contracts, TARs, and Pay

Partnership HealthPlan of California is the Medi-Cal plan for 24 Northern California counties, from Marin and Solano up to the Oregon border. It began in Solano County in 1994. It is not a broker. It books its members’ rides through its own Transportation Services Department, so a transportation company signs its contract with the health plan itself.

Where Partnership runs rides

Partnership is the county organized health system in every county it serves. The Medi-Cal provider manual describes that model as a plan run by a county government entity and the only Medi-Cal plan in its county. Kaiser Permanente is a second choice for some members in eight of the counties, marked below.

Butte to Marin	Mendocino to Sierra	Siskiyou to Yuba
Butte	Mendocino	Siskiyou
Colusa	Modoc	Solano (and Kaiser)
Del Norte	Napa (and Kaiser)	Sonoma (and Kaiser)
Glenn	Nevada	Sutter (and Kaiser)
Humboldt	Placer (and Kaiser)	Tehama
Lake	Plumas	Trinity
Lassen	Shasta	Yolo (and Kaiser)
Marin (and Kaiser)	Sierra	Yuba (and Kaiser)

The work is large. Partnership’s board heard on June 24, 2026 that the plan provided more than 1.5 million rides in 2025. Minutes in its April 2026 board packet report total trips up 7% from the third quarter of fiscal year 2024-25 to the second quarter of 2025-26. Many of its counties are rural, such as Modoc, Trinity, and Siskiyou, so read rural NEMT before you price long trips.

Membership is falling, though. Partnership counted about 894,000 members in December 2025, and DHCS counted 847,259 in August 2026. At its June 24, 2026 board meeting, Partnership’s finance staff projected about 705,000 members by July 2027, mostly because members with unsatisfactory immigration status (UIS) leave managed care on January 1, 2027.

What Partnership’s Transportation Services Department arranges

Partnership’s member page (updated April 22, 2026) and its transportation benefits flyer list four kinds of help:

Service	What it covers	Where your company fits
NEMT	Wheelchair van, gurney van, non-emergency ambulance, and air transport, with door-to-door help	Wheelchair and gurney companies
Non-medical transportation (NMT)	Passenger car, taxi, bus passes, paratransit tickets, and train tickets, whichever costs least and fits the member	Sedan, taxi, and ambulatory companies
Gas mileage reimbursement	Pays a friend or family member who drives the member, at the IRS medical mileage rate	Not a provider service
Travel expenses	Meals, lodging, parking, and tolls on long trips, with prior approval	Not a provider service

See NEMT vs NMT for how the two ride types differ.

Members call (866) 828-2303, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at least five calendar days before the appointment. Partnership’s transportation app, described in flyers from February and April 2026, lets members request and cancel rides and see the ride status, the company the ride was set with, and the driver’s location. So members see your company’s name on every ride you take.

Which riders get a car instead of a bus pass

Partnership assesses every NMT request and picks the least costly mode, and the member attests each time that no other ride is available. Its policy MPTP2501, last reviewed January 14, 2026, lists when a member gets a car or taxi instead of public transit:

• The home and the appointment are more than three quarters of a mile from a bus line.
• The bus does not run on that day or at that time, or the route needs more than two transfers or over two hours.
• The member is 70 or older, a transplant patient, or getting chemotherapy, radiation, or dialysis.
• The member is under 16 and traveling alone, is in the third trimester or has a high-risk pregnancy, or is 16 or older and traveling with more than two children under 5.
• The primary care or treating provider documents another medical reason.

A member may bring one extra passenger. A member under 21 may bring two parents or legal guardians.

How to become a Partnership transportation provider

Partnership contracts with transportation companies through its Provider Relations Department, which handles recruiting and contracting. Its provider contracts policy (MPPR200, last reviewed October 8, 2024) lists transportation among the provider types on its Health Care Service contract. The steps:

1. Get a Type 2 NPI for your company. See how to get an NPI number for NEMT.
2. Enroll in Medi-Cal through PAVE. Partnership requires every network provider, NEMT included, to enroll with DHCS through the PAVE portal. It accepts the DHCS Provider Enrollment Division letter as proof and will not rely on another plan’s screening.
3. Call Provider Relations at (800) 863-4155 or (707) 863-4100 and ask for a transportation contract and the credentialing application.
4. Send the credentialing packet (see the table below). The contract is executed once the required documents and application are complete.
5. Wait for the Credentials Committee. Partnership credentials every ancillary provider before it serves members.
6. Stay current. Partnership recredentials ancillary providers every 36 months and checks every contracted provider’s Medi-Cal enrollment monthly.

What credentialing asks for

Policy MPCR701, last reviewed May 13, 2026, lists the documents by service:

Document	NEMT	NMT
Completed, signed application	Yes	Yes
Current business license	Yes	Yes
Liability insurance certificate in the amounts your contract sets	Yes	Yes
Completed, signed W-9	Yes	Yes
Proof of Medi-Cal enrollment	Yes	Yes
Driver Qualification and Oversight Attestation		Yes

Partnership also verifies your NPI, your Medi-Cal number, and that you carry no Medicare or Medi-Cal sanctions. It checks whether you are a California Children’s Services paneled provider, though that is not required. At recredentialing it adds its Quality Improvement department’s performance reports on your company. The NEMT credentialing checklist keeps all of this together.

The NMT attestation, dated March 8, 2023, has an authorized signer certify that every driver has passed a criminal background check, had a driving record reviewed and kept on file, passed a pre-employment drug and alcohol screening, completed your orientation and training program, and holds a current CPR and first aid certificate. It points to Attachment D, Section 5 of Partnership’s General Transportation Contract for the full driver rules, so ask for that attachment early. See NEMT driver requirements.

While your Medi-Cal application is pending

Partnership’s screening policy, MPCR20, last reviewed February 11, 2026, lets a provider with a pending DHCS application take part for up to 120 calendar days. If DHCS denies the application, or the 120 days run out, Partnership ends the contract no later than 15 calendar days afterward where members would not be harmed. It contracts again only after you are enrolled.

How NEMT trips work at Partnership

The PCS form

Partnership accepts only its own DHCS-approved Provider Certification Statement, Attachment A to MPTP2501, dated January 14, 2026. Every field must be completed, and the form counts as a prescription. It covers up to 12 months. The policy lets physicians, podiatrists, dentists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, midwives, physical, speech, and occupational therapists, optometrists, chiropractors, and mental health and substance use providers authorize NEMT. The form takes personal signatures only, with no proxies or stamps.

Partnership provides the ride type the PCS prescribes and will not downgrade it. If more than one type is checked, it uses the lowest cost one. Once a PCS reaches Partnership, it cannot be changed. See medical necessity forms.

The TAR

Partnership requires both a Treatment Authorization Request (TAR) and the PCS for NEMT services that carry a TAR requirement. In fee-for-service Medi-Cal, wheelchair and litter van services need one. For urgent rides, Partnership can authorize a one-time trip by phone and take the PCS afterward, and the policy says the Medi-Cal certified NEMT provider then submits the TAR. Partnership can send you a copy of the PCS by fax or encrypted email. Confirm in your contract who submits TARs for routine rides. Partnership takes TARs through its Online Services portal. See prior authorization.

Timing rules your dispatch desk must meet

• Five calendar days’ notice. Short-notice requests are handled case by case. For life-sustaining appointments, and appointments the provider scheduled within the five days, Partnership tries to find a ride. A member who simply waited to call is denied.
• Arrive on time. Partnership schedules every ride so the member is dropped off within 15 minutes of the appointment. If your driver cannot make that, the member can call Partnership, which approves another company, and a late or missed pickup triggers an urgent replacement ride.
• Door-to-door or door-through-door. Every authorized NEMT ride needs one or the other. See door-through-door service.
• Direct requests. The policy says members and providers can call Partnership or any Medi-Cal certified NEMT provider directly to request NEMT, and can ask the scheduled company for status updates.
• Driver records. Partnership stores the company and driver on every trip by date, time, and pickup and drop-off, and shares that with a member who files a grievance. Transportation accounted for more than half of Partnership’s grievances in 2025, most often missed rides, late arrivals, scheduling, customer service, and driver behavior, so keep a trip log for every leg.
• Minors. A member aged 12 to 18 may ride alone with written parent or guardian consent, if Partnership and your company both accept the forms and agree.

Hospital discharges

The discharging or receiving facility requests these rides on Partnership’s Hospital Discharge Transportation Request, by fax to (530) 351-9055 or by email to Partnership’s transportation help desk, listed in the contacts table below. The form gives you the member’s height, weight, oxygen in liters, mobility equipment, ventilator or trach, behavior precautions, bathroom needs, and the stairs or ramp at drop-off. Every email subject line carries the discharge date, requests for a psychiatric hold add “Urgent 5150”, and any request for NEMT needs a completed, signed PCS form.

A ride from an acute hospital stay to a skilled nursing, intermediate care, or psychiatric facility must happen within 3 hours of the request. If it does not, the hospital may arrange an out-of-network ride, which Partnership pays at no more than the Medi-Cal rate, or at the contract rate when the company is contracted with Partnership. See hospital discharge transportation.

How Partnership pays transportation companies

Partnership pays contracted companies the rate in their contract and pays companies without one the Medi-Cal fee-for-service rate (policy CLPM-13). Its contracts policy says it offers willing providers the same terms as similar providers, with payment no less than the fee-for-service rate. So the fee-for-service maximums are the numbers to know when you negotiate:

Service	Code	Medi-Cal fee-for-service maximum
Wheelchair van pickup	A0130	$20.30, or $26.43 from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Litter (gurney) van pickup	T2005	$26.29, or $32.42 at night
Wheelchair or litter van mileage, pickup to destination	A0380	$1.50 a mile
Waiting time after the first 15 minutes, up to 90 minutes	T2007	$11.30 per half hour
Attendant or escort	T2001	$5.52
Non-medical ride	A0120	$17.65, or $23.78 at night
Non-medical mileage	A0390	$1.30 a mile

The NEMT rows come from Medi-Cal manual pages updated September 2023, and the NMT rows from pages updated August 2020. See NEMT billing codes.

How billing works, from Partnership’s claims policies approved September 1, 2025:

• Form. Bill on a CMS-1500.
• Where. Send claims electronically through Partnership’s Online Services, or on paper to Partnership HealthPlan of California, Medi-Cal Claims, P.O. Box 1368, Suisun City, CA 94585-1368. Faxed claims are not accepted.
• Deadline. You have 365 days from the date of service. Claims received on the 366th day are denied, with no exceptions.
• Payment. Partnership runs checks weekly for its Medi-Cal line.
• New system. Partnership is moving to a new claims system and runs provider trainings on it through December 2026.

The January 2027 change

From January 1, 2027, Partnership members with UIS move to fee-for-service Medi-Cal, Partnership told providers on August 21, 2026. Rides for them will no longer come through Partnership. Because Partnership already requires PAVE enrollment, a contracted company can keep serving those riders, but it bills Medi-Cal fee-for-service directly and gets its own TARs approved by DHCS. The California guide explains that process.

Who to call

For	Contact
Contracts and credentialing	Provider Relations, (800) 863-4155 or (707) 863-4100
Transportation Services Department	(866) 828-2303, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Facility discharge and trip requests	Fax (530) 351-9055, transportationhelpdesk@partnershiphp.org
Claims	(707) 863-4130, toll free (855) 798-8757, Northern Region (530) 999-6833, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Electronic claims help	EDI team, (707) 863-4527
Headquarters	4665 Business Center Drive, Fairfield, CA 94534
Regional offices	Auburn, Chico, Eureka, Redding, and Santa Rosa, all at (800) 863-4155

Before you call Provider Relations, have your PAVE approval letter or application receipt, NPI, W-9, business license, insurance certificate, vehicle list by type, and the counties you will cover. For how a plan contract differs from broker work, see how to contract with Medicaid health plans. For Medi-Cal work farther south, compare Ventura Transit System and the California guide.