SafeRide Health in Nevada: Rural Medicaid Rides Since Managed Care Went Statewide (2027)

Nevada sends a Medicaid ride to one of two brokers, depending on where the member lives and whether they have a health plan. The Nevada guide covers the statewide broker, licensing, and the full transportation manual, and the SafeRide Health page covers SafeRide’s signup, app, and Tier 1 program everywhere. This page covers SafeRide’s Nevada share: rural plan members since January 1, 2026, the towns where they live, and what Nevada adds to SafeRide’s own checklist.

Which Nevada members SafeRide books

On January 1, 2026, Nevada Medicaid managed care, which had covered only urban Clark and Washoe counties, went statewide. The managed care chapter of the state manual, section 3603.4B, splits rides two ways. In urban Clark and urban Washoe, the state’s broker, MTM Health, arranges every ride whatever the member’s plan. In the rural service area, each plan authorizes and arranges its members’ rides itself and may hire a vendor to do it.

Only two plans cover rural Nevada, CareSource and SilverSummit Healthplan, and both hired SafeRide. CareSource’s Nevada provider manual says it serves its rural members through SafeRide, SilverSummit’s 2026 provider manual, updated September 9, 2026, routes rural callers to SafeRide, and Nevada Medicaid’s transportation page, updated September 29, 2026, names SafeRide for rural plan members. Before the change, Nevada Medicaid estimated about 75,000 rural residents would move into the plans.

Two groups never reach SafeRide’s Nevada network:

• Urban members in any plan. Members of every plan in urban Clark and Washoe, including Anthem, Health Plan of Nevada, and Molina, ride with MTM.
• Rural fee-for-service members. Seniors, people with disabilities, foster children, and waiver members largely stayed out of the plans, and their rides still go to MTM. See MTM Health in Nevada.

Nevada Check Up children are a gray area: the transportation chapter effective January 1, 2026 makes the rural plans responsible for their rides, while Nevada Medicaid’s page still says Check Up members are not eligible. See Nevada adds Nevada Check Up to Medicaid rides. SafeRide’s member site also lists a ride line for UnitedHealthcare Nevada members, 866-244-3123, so ask your network vendor manager whether those trips come with a Nevada contract.

Where the rural trips are

The transportation chapter counts every county but Clark and Washoe as rural, 15 in all with Carson City. The managed care chapter speaks of urban Clark and urban Washoe service areas, though, so the rural service area also takes in the outer parts of both counties, and Nevada Medicaid tells members their ZIP code decides whom they call. SilverSummit’s rural ride page names these outlying communities alongside the rural counties:

• Outlying Clark County. Bunkerville, Cal-Nev-Ari and Searchlight, Cottonwood Cove, Goodsprings, Primm, Sandy Valley, Jean, Indian Springs, Laughlin, Logandale, Mesquite, Moapa, and Overton.
• Outlying Washoe County. Crystal Bay, Empire, Gerlach, Incline Village, Nixon, Wadsworth, and Washoe Valley.

On that list, plan members in Laughlin and Mesquite ride with SafeRide even though both towns sit in Clark County, and so do Incline Village members in Washoe County. SilverSummit’s member handbook still says Clark and Washoe residents ride with MTM, so confirm each member’s ZIP code with the plan before you count on these trips. A Las Vegas or Reno company sees those members only if it holds a SafeRide contract and can cover the drive.

Long runs come with rural work. The manual says trips that start in certain rural counties are booked on the standard schedule rather than as out-of-area trips, and a rural member going to the closest urban provider needs no distance verification. Price those miles before you accept them; see rural NEMT.

How CareSource and SilverSummit rides compare

The two plans book and describe their rides differently. As of October 2026:

Item	CareSource	SilverSummit Healthplan
Member ride line	1-833-230-2058, routed to SafeRide	1-844-366-2880, or SafeRide at 1-888-583-1109
Notice	3 business days; urgent and discharge rides same or next day	At least 3 days; line open weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific
Ride types listed	Taxi, rideshare, wheelchair van, bus passes, mileage	Curb-to-curb, door-to-door, taxi, wheelchair vehicles, bus, mileage
Extra rides	10 one-way trips a month, 30 miles or less, for food, WIC, and similar stops	Pharmacy pickups, and no cap on medically necessary trips

CareSource’s 2026 handbook spells out the extra trips: food resources, CareSource events, community wellness and religious activities, state Medicaid offices for renewals, WIC offices, medical education and outreach programs, and the DMV. Its provider manual counts the same benefit as five round trips a month and adds pharmacy rides after a doctor visit plus five more pharmacy trips a month. The 10 one-way trips are short local runs of 30 miles or less.

Neither plan lists stretcher rides in its member materials, and SilverSummit’s provider manual says its ride program does not include ambulance trips. The state plan counts a stretcher car as an NEMT mode but excludes basic and advanced life support transports, so ask SafeRide before you offer stretcher service in Nevada. The rides the plans list for a van company are ambulatory riders, riders who need help from the door, and wheelchair users, with members, family, and friends paid mileage where they can drive. SilverSummit lets a member bring one caregiver or family member when a form reaches SafeRide in advance; see escorts and caregivers.

What Nevada adds to SafeRide’s requirements

SafeRide’s provider page gives one credentialing list for every state. Nevada’s managed care chapter has the rural plans arrange rides under the transportation chapter’s policies, so expect that chapter’s provider rules to come with SafeRide’s Nevada trips, and ask SafeRide which ones its Nevada agreement writes in. Where the two lists differ, as of October 2026:

Item	SafeRide’s list	Nevada’s transportation chapter
Auto coverage	$500,000 auto liability	$1.5 million combined single limit on every vehicle (NAC 706.191)
Policy terms	SafeRide named as additional insured	Notice to Nevada Medicaid if the policy expires or ends
Drug testing	A pre-hire drug screen	A program that meets 49 CFR Part 382
Driver training	First aid or CPR, defensive driving, wheelchair securement	Classroom and behind-the-wheel training within 30 days, on a curriculum Nevada Medicaid approves
Vehicle checks	Registration and insurance	An annual inspection by the ride vendor on top of state inspections

Buy to the Nevada column. SafeRide’s $500,000 auto floor is a third of the manual’s minimum, and any vehicle or driver out of compliance comes off the road until the vendor confirms the fix. The Nevada guide lists the vehicle equipment and driver record limits in full, and NEMT insurance requirements explains each coverage.

The Transportation Authority question needs a written answer. NRS 706.745 exempts carriers working under a Nevada Health Authority ride contract made under NRS 422.27495, and the manual has Nevada Medicaid issue a letter of exemption once the broker certifies a carrier’s insurance, vehicles, and driver checks. Rural plan rides run under the plans’ contracts and their vendor’s agreements, so ask SafeRide and the NTA in writing whether that letter covers your SafeRide trips before you skip an NTA certificate. Vehicles running under an exemption carry signs saying so and a copy of it on board.

How SafeRide trips run and pay in Nevada

CareSource’s provider manual tells members to cancel at least 24 hours before pickup and says the driver waits 15 minutes before leaving and marking a no-show. Nevada’s state plan excludes charges for no-shows and waiting time, and unloaded miles, from NEMT, so confirm each rider the day before. Under the transportation chapter, a ride after a hospital discharge must happen within three hours, so list any same-day capacity you have in a rural county when you apply; see hospital discharge transportation.

SafeRide’s provider page lists one set of network standards for every state, and the SafeRide Health page covers them. Your SafeRide agreement sets the rate for each ride type, so get the Nevada rates in writing, including how long rural runs and mileage are paid. See NEMT broker scorecards and negotiating broker rates.

Who to call

For	Contact
Joining SafeRide’s network	team@saferidehealth.com or (855) 955-7433
Current SafeRide providers	Your network vendor manager
Rural ride concerns	SafeRide, (877) 841-1379
CareSource member rides	1-833-230-2058
SilverSummit member rides	1-844-366-2880, or SafeRide at 1-888-583-1109
Urban and fee-for-service members	MTM Health, 1-844-879-7341
Unresolved plan member concerns	ManagedCare@nvha.nv.gov

What to do first

1. Map your ZIP codes. Check which of the towns you serve fall in the rural service area on SilverSummit’s list and CareSource’s ZIP lookup.
2. Insure every vehicle to $1.5 million combined single limit, with SafeRide as additional insured.
3. Set up a Part 382 testing program and plan the 30-day driver training before your first trip.
4. Get the NTA answer in writing from SafeRide and the Transportation Authority, or hold an NTA certificate.
5. Fill out SafeRide’s signup form with a real NPI, list every rural county and town you can reach, and finish within 30 days.
6. Apply to MTM Health too, since rural fee-for-service members and every urban member ride with MTM.