Sandy Valley Transportation Services: How to Join Its Region 14 Medicaid Ride Network in 2027

Sandy Valley Transportation Services, Inc. (SVTS) is a nonprofit demand response transit system with its central office at 81 Resource Court in Prestonsburg and a second office in Pikeville. It has carried riders in Floyd, Johnson, Magoffin, Martin, and Pike counties since 1990. As of September 2026, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) lists it as the Medicaid broker for those same five counties, which make up Region 14 of the Human Service Transportation Delivery (HSTD) program.

For a transportation company in the Big Sandy area, SVTS is the way into Medicaid trips. It takes every reservation, checks the rider’s eligibility, and sends the trip to one of its own vehicles or to a subcontracted company. You sign with SVTS, yet the Cabinet still clears your company, checks your vehicles, and fixes what each trip pays. What follows pairs KYTC’s steps with the rules SVTS posts for its drivers, bad weather, and booking.

Region 14 and SVTS at a glance

Item	As of September 2026
Legal name	Sandy Valley Transportation Services, Inc.
HSTD region	Region 14
Counties	Floyd, Johnson, Magoffin, Martin, Pike
Offices	Central office, 81 Resource Court, Prestonsburg; Pikeville office, 805 Hambley Boulevard
Booking line	1-800-444-7433 (1-800-444-RIDE)
Broker’s monthly payment per Medicaid member	$11.15, in the November 5, 2025 briefing to lawmakers
Last rate change in KYTC’s fiscal 2023 report	Region 14 subcontractor rates adjusted May 1, 2023
SVTS’s own fleet	132 vehicles in KYTC’s transit asset plan, revised August 25, 2026

The monthly figure is the capitation the Department for Medicaid Services (DMS) pays the broker for each Medicaid member in Region 14. It is not a trip rate. Across the 15 regions in that briefing, the monthly rates ran from $6.88 in Region 11 to $14.69 in Region 5.

How SVTS fits into Kentucky’s Medicaid ride program

DMS runs Kentucky Medicaid and contracts with KYTC to manage NEMT under a federal 1915(b) waiver approved for April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2027. KYTC chooses the broker for each region through a request for proposals. 603 KAR 7:080 sets the term at a single state fiscal year, July 1 through June 30, renewable up to four times, and the waiver notes that every region follows its own bidding calendar. The waiver also says the regional brokers serve Medicaid members by choosing to subcontract with other providers, which is where your company comes in.

SVTS is also the area’s public transit agency, and its site says it carries riders for Kentucky Medicaid as well as the general public. It runs cash fare trips, Dial-A-Ride service twice a month in each county, and intercity trips. It describes itself as the Section 5311 provider of public and intercity transportation and the Section 5310 lead agency for the area, and KYTC’s transit asset management plan, revised August 25, 2026, lists it among the 28 subrecipients in the Cabinet’s group plan. If you run a nonprofit, our guide to Section 5310 grants explains that program.

Where Region 14 riders go

In the November 5, 2025 briefing to lawmakers, DMS and KYTC described each rider’s medical service area as the county of residence plus the counties bordering it. Rides stay inside that area or go to the closest medical facility available, and anything farther needs a referral, which DMS says comes from the rider’s primary care physician. Stretcher rides are not part of the HSTD waiver, so they fall outside an SVTS subcontract.

SVTS’s intercity service runs daily to Lexington, Ashland, and Hazard as of September 2026, and it arranges rides to a Greyhound station or an airport on request. Long runs are part of the work in these counties, so read our guides to long-distance medical transport and rural NEMT before you price a route.

Steps to subcontract with SVTS

Step	Who you deal with	What you come away with
1. Form the company and get an employer identification number	Kentucky Secretary of State and the IRS	A legal business and the IRS letter Kentucky Medicaid asks for
2. Apply for Taxi or Disabled Persons Vehicle authority once your insurer’s Form E is filed, one vehicle carries a county clerk plate, and technician inspections and nationwide background checks are done	Division of Motor Carriers, 502-564-1257, or the Motor Carrier Portal	A certificate, then a plate and fee receipt card for each qualified vehicle
3. Tell SVTS you hold a certificate and want to subcontract	SVTS central office, 606-886-1936	A contract review and a vehicle inspection
4. Hand over your papers and pass the inspection	SVTS	Your insurance, registrations, workers’ compensation proof, certificate, and fee receipt cards on file
5. Put staff in drug and alcohol testing and finish checks and training	The statewide random pool and SVTS	Drivers cleared to run HSTD trips
6. File a MAP-811 for each service type after SVTS signs it	Kentucky Medicaid Partner Portal (KY MPPA)	A welcome letter with a Medicaid provider number for each type
7. Give SVTS the welcome letters and wait for approval	SVTS and KYTC’s Office of Transportation Delivery	Cabinet approval, an orientation meeting, and your first trips

Two rules shape the timing. KYTC wants every new provider running with a minimum of three approved, active drivers and three operational passenger vehicles. And 603 KAR 7:080 bars you from signing with SVTS until the Cabinet has approved your company.

Filling in the MAP-811

Put provider type 56 in box 7 and your specialty in box 8:

• 263 for Type 02: ambulatory riders with no special needs, on a for-profit company’s vehicle
• 262 for Type 04: ambulatory riders on a nonprofit’s bus
• 264 for Type 07: ambulatory riders who are disoriented and may need an escort
• 265 for Type 08: wheelchair riders, in a lift or ramp vehicle

A for-profit company files for 02, 07, and 08, and a nonprofit files for 04, 07, and 08, one application each. Sign each by hand, because the checklist rejects electronic and stamped signatures, and include NPPES proof of your NPI and taxonomy code. SVTS then signs the transportation broker block, and you upload that page and your operating certificate in KY MPPA. Kentucky Medicaid no longer takes paper applications. Transportation (provider type 56) is also absent from DMS’s list of provider types charged the federal application fee, which is $750 in 2026.

Choosing your certificate

A Disabled Persons Vehicle (DPV) certificate requires an ADA-compliant vehicle with a built-in lift or ramp and up to 15 regular seats, and those vans may still carry riders who walk. A Taxi certificate covers vehicles with up to 8 regular seats. As of September 2026, either costs $250 to apply and $250 a year to renew under KRS 281.630, and Motor Carriers allows up to 14 business days to process an application. Our Kentucky state guide lists every fee and inspection, and our glossary explains operating authority.

What SVTS asks of drivers

SVTS posts a driver page that covers its own drivers and its subcontractors’ drivers. As of September 2026, it asks for more than the state’s HSTD rule in several places:

Requirement	SVTS driver page	Kentucky rule (603 KAR 7:080)
Minimum age	21	18
Before the first HSTD trip	DOT physical exam, TB skin test, conviction record, and driving history	Pre-employment drug test and orientation and safety training
Training	Before driving: alcohol testing awareness, defensive driving, passenger assistance and sensitivity, and wheelchair lift and securement. Within 90 days: first aid, basic CPR, and bloodborne pathogens	First aid, bloodborne pathogens, and passenger assistance training, plus disability awareness training when the Cabinet offers it
Moving violations	No more than 2 in 3 years	No more than 2 in 3 years
Past convictions	No drug or alcohol offense in 5 years for drivers and attendants; a felony in 5 years needs approval from SVTS, you, and the Cabinet	A misdemeanor or felony in 5 years needs approval from the broker, you, and the Cabinet
Drug and alcohol testing	Pre-employment, random, reasonable suspicion, and post-accident	Pre-employment, and random testing for every HSTD driver

Where SVTS and the state differ, ask SVTS which version goes into your subcontract, and meet the stricter one until you have its answer in writing. Under either rule, no driver may have a conviction for a sexual crime or a crime of violence.

SVTS’s page says it provides this training at no charge through Rural Transit Assistance Program grant funding. Ask whether your drivers can join its classes before you pay for outside courses. The same page sets conduct rules:

• No headphones while driving, and no tobacco, food, or drinks in the vehicle or near a rider.
• When it is safe, the driver gets out to open doors and helps riders to and from the main door of the destination.
• Before the vehicle moves, the driver checks that every wheelchair is secured and every rider is belted, and the driver wears a seat belt too.

See our guides to NEMT driver drug testing and NEMT driver training.

Vehicles and insurance in Region 14

SVTS inspects your vehicles before you start, and KYTC inspects vehicles too. For a vehicle outside the state’s commercial motor carrier safety rule (601 KAR 1:005), 603 KAR 7:080 calls for a written technician inspection before HSTD service begins and again every year. Its equipment list includes climate control that works, a pair of seat belt extensions, a mounted seat belt cutter, a fire extinguisher with a current tag, three reflective triangles on stands, first aid and spill kits, and a retractable step or sturdy metal step stool when the floor sits more than 12 inches off the ground. The driver and passenger side doors carry your company’s legal name in block letters 2 inches tall. Check each van against our vehicle inspection checklist.

As of September 2026, KRS 281.655 sets the minimum liability insurance per vehicle at $100,000 for injury or death to one person and $50,000 for property damage. The limit for all injuries in one accident is $300,000 on a vehicle with up to 7 regular seats and $600,000 on one with 8 or more. SVTS also collects proof of Kentucky workers’ compensation. See NEMT insurance requirements.

Snow days and dialysis rides

SVTS posts its inclement weather procedure. As of September 2026, it works like this:

1. Dispatch and the driver supervisor watch the forecast and try to reach the office by 5 a.m. on a bad-weather morning.
2. With heavy snow or snow-covered roads, SVTS drivers wait at home until dispatch calls.
3. Dispatch and the supervisor choose full service, partial service when main roads are clear but side roads are not, a two-hour delay, or no service.
4. All-wheel drive vehicles carry dialysis riders at their regular times when possible.
5. If SVTS does not run, it calls dialysis patients first and may ask local rescue squads for help.
6. Dispatch tells the programs, facilities, and doctors’ offices the decision affects.
7. Service may start later in the day as roads improve, and drivers may pick riders up early if the weather turns.

Under that procedure, each SVTS driver calls their own riders about a change. Ask SVTS how it will reach your company and whether your trips follow its delay. State rules back this up: every broker keeps a Cabinet-approved weather policy, may not transport in conditions that endanger drivers or riders, and may call the National Guard or other emergency units for dialysis and urgent care riders (603 KAR 7:080). Build your own plan with our guides to bad weather policies and dialysis transportation.

How trips reach you

As of September 2026, riders book with SVTS at least 72 hours ahead, which SVTS calls 3 days’ notice. Reservations are taken weekdays from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.; after hours, callers press 4 to leave a message. Urgent care rides run around the clock, every day. Regular scheduling may be closed on six holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

SVTS’s rider rules say each rider is coordinated with other passengers. Riders give their name, address, phone number, birth date, and directions, the facility and doctor they are going to, and any escort or special need. A rider who is abusive, disruptive, violent, or breaking the law can lose service, and a driver facing an immediate danger calls dispatch for help.

Kentucky law gives Type 07 and Type 08 riders the right to ask for a specific approved subcontractor, or for SVTS itself, and they still book through SVTS (KRS 281.874). When a rider names no one, SVTS picks, and it must share those trips fairly among all providers certified for them, itself included. Coordination comes first, then cost, then rotation (603 KAR 7:080). On your side, an assigned trip stays with your company, you take no part in deciding eligibility or the type of transport, and soliciting Medicaid trips is not allowed. For shared rides, see our guide to multiloading.

How SVTS pays you

SVTS does not choose your rate. Under 603 KAR 7:080 the Cabinet sets it per certificate type for Region 14, and it is uniform for every eligible provider in the region, SVTS’s own vehicles included. The Cabinet bases it on terrain, trip length, the rider population, where medical and job sites sit, labor and economic conditions, and service use, and brokers hear about any change to subcontractor rates 45 days ahead. KYTC’s state fiscal year 2023 report lists Region 14 among six regions whose subcontractor rates changed on May 1, 2023, and says rates are reviewed each quarter. The rates must appear in your subcontract, so get SVTS’s current sheet before you sign.

Payment follows a monthly cycle. Send SVTS a valid invoice by the 1st for last month’s trips, since one dated later rolls into the next month’s billing. SVTS reports to the Cabinet by the 7th, the Cabinet pays SVTS by the 15th, and KRS 281.875 gives SVTS 3 business days from that payment to pay you. Every invoice must reach SVTS within 6 months of the date of service, and you keep trip records for 5 years. See how to bill NEMT brokers.

Tell SVTS at once about any moving violation or crash that happens on an HSTD trip, and report any allegation of Medicaid fraud straight to the Transportation Cabinet.

Local fares for private pay pricing

SVTS’s public fares are a useful marker if you also sell private pay rides. As of September 2026:

Fare	Price
Cash trip, one way or round trip, up to 10 miles	$5.00 minimum
Each mile over 10	$0.50
Each added stop	$2.50
Frequent rider (3 trips a week, at least 2 weeks a month)	Half the regular fare, $5.00 minimum
Intercity, first rider	$0.30 a mile
Intercity, riders 55 and older	$0.25 a mile
Intercity, each added family member	Half the regular rate

What 2026 and 2027 bring

Kentucky’s House Bill 2 (Acts Chapter 179, April 14, 2026) puts new duties on regional brokers like SVTS. Its Section 14 covers the broker program, not rides a Medicaid managed care plan pays for, and it changes Region 14 work in four ways:

1. GPS in every van. SVTS must see the exact location of every vehicle while it is on a Medicaid ride, and SVTS, not the state, pays for the device. Ask which unit your vans will carry and who installs it.
2. A 2% withhold. The law calls for a payment model that holds back 2% of each broker’s capitation until the broker earns it back on results such as trips completed, canceled or rescheduled, and delayed, time to schedule a ride, and rider satisfaction, so delayed trips anywhere in the network can cost SVTS part of that money.
3. A medical loss ratio floor. The minimum is 85% for the state fiscal year that began July 1, 2026, then 87%, 89%, and 90% from July 1, 2029, with excess capitation returned to the state in any year a broker misses it.
4. Facility transport. Hospitals and skilled nursing facilities may drive their own patients and residents and be reimbursed by SVTS at the mileage rate it pays contracted drivers for the same service.

Keep an eye on the calendar as well. HB 2 told the Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board to study the NEMT program, including the regional broker system and models used in other states, and report by December 31, 2026, unless the Legislative Research Commission reassigns the study. Kentucky’s federal waiver for the program runs out March 31, 2027 unless it is renewed. The rest of the law is in our HB 2 report.

Who to call

For	Contact
SVTS central office, Prestonsburg	606-886-1936 or 1-800-444-7433; fax 606-886-7039
SVTS Pikeville office	606-433-1936 or 1-877-330-7287; fax 606-433-1939
SVTS complaints	1-800-444-7433
HSTD program (Office of Transportation Delivery)	502-564-7433, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern
HSTD complaints	1-888-941-7433
Operating authority (Division of Motor Carriers)	502-564-1257
Kentucky Medicaid enrollment (KY MPPA contact center)	877-838-5085

KYTC’s broker list shows 606-886-7039 as SVTS’s phone number, but SVTS lists that number as its fax, so call 606-886-1936 to reach the office. Take your certificate, fee receipt cards, proof of insurance, vehicle list, and driver roster to the first meeting. Next door, LKLP brokers Regions 13 and 15, and farther southwest, RTEC brokers Region 12. Our guide to getting NEMT broker contracts covers the first conversation with any broker.