Verida in Arkansas: NET Regions A to D and How to Join (2027)

Verida, Inc., the Villa Rica, Georgia broker once called Southeastrans, runs Arkansas Medicaid’s Non-Emergency Transportation (NET) program in four of the state’s seven regions. The Department of Human Services (DHS) pays it a set amount for each eligible member every month, a capitation rate, and Verida books each ride with a company under a service agreement. The rules for every Arkansas region, from ArDOT authority to cameras and driver checks, are in the Arkansas state guide, and Verida’s other states are on the Verida broker page. This page covers what holds only inside Verida’s 40 Arkansas counties.

Which Arkansas counties Verida covers

A ride belongs to the region where the member lives, even when the appointment is in another region. As of September 2026, these are Verida’s regions on the NET map DHS and AFMC revised in December 2025, with DHS’s figures for state fiscal year 2024 (July 2023 to June 2024):

Region	Member ride line	Eligible members, June 2024	NET trips, SFY 2024	Loaded miles per trip
A	888-833-4136	137,593	21,567	42
B	888-833-4128	65,614	14,766	58
C	888-833-4130	106,500	35,613	43
D	888-822-6155	108,745	29,824	39

• Region A (9 counties): Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion, Newton, Searcy, and Washington.
• Region B (10 counties): Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Sharp, Stone, Van Buren, White, and Woodruff.
• Region C (10 counties): Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, Randolph, and St. Francis.
• Region D (11 counties): Conway, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Perry, Polk, Pope, Scott, Sebastian, and Yell.

The ride lines take reservations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central on weekdays and close on state holidays. Pulaski, Faulkner, and Lonoke counties, around Little Rock and Conway, left Verida on January 2, 2026, when Modivcare took over Region G. DHS put Region G out to bid again on June 19, 2026, under Invitation for Bid 710-26-069. Most of southern Arkansas belongs to two local agencies: Central Arkansas Development Council in Region E and the Area Agency on Aging of Southeast Arkansas in Region F.

How Verida came to hold four regions

Verida’s 2025 bid says it became an Arkansas NET broker in February 2013. In January 2019, DHS cancelled MTM’s contracts in Regions A, B, C, and G, and Southeastrans, which already ran Region D, took over all four on February 1, 2019, day treatment rides included.

In the 2025 bid, Invitation for Bid 710-25-049, every region Verida now holds ended in a tie at the lowest price DHS allowed, and Verida won each one on a coin flip. Region B first went to MediTrans, which declined the contract, and a November 5, 2025 coin flip against Modivcare gave it to Verida (the Region B award). Region G went the other way. DHS moved it to Verida in September 2025, but on October 20, 2025 the State Procurement Director sustained Modivcare’s protest and restored Modivcare’s award.

Where Verida’s Arkansas trips are

DHS’s databook for state fiscal year 2024 counts 101,770 NET trips in Verida’s four regions, about 43 loaded miles each. It counts one trip each time a vehicle goes out and leaves out day treatment rides. The ten busiest counties:

County	Region	NET trips, SFY 2024	Loaded miles per trip
Sebastian	D	10,160	22
Craighead	C	9,244	23
Mississippi	C	6,659	50
Washington	A	5,749	40
Crittenden	C	5,535	37
Benton	A	5,402	32
Crawford	D	5,095	28
White	B	4,581	45
St. Francis	C	4,045	48
Pope	D	3,827	31

Sebastian County, home of Fort Smith, and Craighead County, home of Jonesboro, have the shortest average trips in Verida’s area. The longest are in the hill counties: Polk County trips averaged 119 loaded miles, Searcy County 100, and Fulton County 92. Price those runs before you accept them, and see rural NEMT for how.

Day treatment rides

Day treatment rides are a large second stream of work. DHS’s day treatment databook counts 255,884 trips to and from Early Intervention Day Treatment (EIDT) and Adult Developmental Day Treatment (ADDT) centers in Verida’s regions in calendar 2024:

Region	Day treatment trips, 2024	Miles per trip
A	57,192	9
B	78,787	11
C	55,424	8
D	64,481	11

Verida carried these rides on a separate DHS contract until the 2025 bid folded them into the NET price from January 1, 2026. The trips are short, and DHS’s 2023 list of Verida subcontractors includes a day treatment center. The separate-trip and child-ratio rules for these riders are in the state guide, and adult day care transportation covers how to run them.

How to join Verida in Arkansas

Verida’s four steps, from the Request for Qualifications to an owner orientation and contract, are the same in every state and are on the Verida broker page. The Arkansas contract adds these to the path:

1. Start ArDOT authority early. For-hire passenger carriers in Arkansas need intrastate authority from ArDOT, which takes a published notice and a hearing, and Verida must collect proof of each provider’s ArDOT registration. The steps and fees are in the state guide.
2. Send the Request for Qualifications. Choose Arkansas, fill in your service area and how many trips you can take on, and send your driver and vehicle lists with it. Verida checks whether your region needs another provider and calls for an interview if it does. If it does not, see what to do when a broker network is full.
3. Send Verida’s Arkansas checklist. A current business license, proof of liability insurance, driver credentials, and current criminal background checks, drug screens, and driving reports for all drivers, with drug screens for owners too. The DHS contract lists a business license for each NET region among the licenses providers keep, so ask Verida whether you need one for every region you plan to drive in.
4. Fill out the state’s disclosure form. Before it signs any subcontract, Verida must collect Arkansas’s Contract and Grant Disclosure and Certification Form, required by Executive Order 98-04. The form asks whether you, your close family, or anyone who controls or owns 10 percent or more of your company is a current or former legislator, constitutional officer, state board member, or state employee. Verida mails it to DHS within 10 days of signing, with the dollar amount of your subcontract.
5. Pass Verida’s first inspection. Verida must inspect and certify every vehicle before your agreement is signed. Use the vehicle inspection checklist first.
6. Sign the DHS-approved agreement. DHS approves Verida’s model service agreement in advance, and each signed agreement goes to AFMC, the state’s NET monitor.

For insurance, Verida’s Arkansas page and the DHS contract together ask for $1,000,000 of liability on each vehicle, DHS as an additional insured, an insurer licensed in Arkansas and rated A- or better, and general liability with $1 million of sexual abuse and molestation cover and a $2 million aggregate. Get each limit from Verida in writing, and see NEMT insurance requirements.

What the state sees about your company

Once you sign, Verida gives AFMC a roster of your drivers, with each one’s Arkansas license number and hire date, and a monthly list of your vehicles with each VIN, plate, odometer reading, insurance certificate, and Department of Finance and Administration registration permit. Changes reach AFMC within five business days, as the state guide explains.

DHS also posts the owners and board members of each broker’s subcontractors on its NET page. The list there, last updated in June 2023, names 30 Verida subcontractors, from companies owned by one or two people to an area agency on aging and a community mental health center.

What Verida is paid and what you are paid

DHS pays Verida its bid price times the number of NET-eligible members in the region the month before. That one payment covers regular NET rides, day treatment rides, and all of Verida’s own costs and profit. DHS’s actuary certified these prices for calendar 2026, and the contract lets DHS review them at least once a year.

Region	Verida’s price per member per month	DHS’s allowed range
A	$3.44	$3.44 to $3.56
B	$7.85	$7.85 to $8.07
C	$4.95	$4.95 to $5.15
D	$5.71	$5.71 to $5.92

Arkansas sets no trip rate for providers. Four contract terms shape your pay under Verida:

• A written rate. Verida negotiates a rate with each provider, and the full rate must appear in your agreement. What you negotiate does not change what DHS pays Verida. See how to negotiate broker rates.
• Thirty days. Verida must pay authorized trips in full within 30 calendar days after it receives your invoice. DHS will not step in if Verida pays late or you disagree on a trip, so keep every record. See NEMT broker late payment.
• A floor on service spending. Verida reports its actual service costs per member per month. If its spending on regular NET rides falls below 95 percent of the target DHS’s actuary sets for the region, Verida pays the shortfall back to DHS.
• Month-end trip data. DHS releases Verida’s monthly payment only once trips are in its system by the last day of the month after the ride, so close out trips and invoices quickly.

What DHS fines Verida for

The contract’s performance standards fine Verida for problems that begin with its providers. As of the 2025 contract:

Problem	Fine on Verida
A provider found out of compliance with the contract	$500 each time
A vehicle missing a required safety item, such as the camera, child safety alarm, step stool, or lift equipment	$1,000 per day, per item
A monthly inspection of your vehicles more than 30 days late	$500 per day
A working driver or attendant who does not meet the contract	$10,000 per day
Insurance that does not meet the contract	$5,000 each time
A missing license, permit, or certification	$2,000 per day, per document
An incomplete or inaccurate daily manifest	$1,000 each time
A day treatment rider missed on a fourth straight day, or on more than five days in a contract year	$5,000 per valid complaint
A safety violation that causes serious injury or death	Up to $25,000 each

The contract also sets how Verida handles your mistakes, with a corrective action plan and a deadline, which the state guide covers. See NEMT broker penalties for how brokers pass fines like these on.

Day to day with Verida in Arkansas

• Booking. Since January 1, 2026, members book at least 72 hours ahead, not counting weekends and holidays. Verida’s rider guide puts it as three business days, and up to 30 days ahead.
• Standing orders. Facilities set up recurring trips with Verida’s Special Services Representatives at 855-223-1227 or book online at facility.verida.com. See NEMT standing orders.
• Returns. Verida’s Arkansas rider guide tells riders your company has one hour from their call to come back for them.
• Late rides. Riders call Verida’s dispatch line, 855-325-7586, when a ride is more than 15 minutes late or they have not heard from you within 30 minutes.
• Waiting. The rider guide gives both 10 and 15 minutes as the driver’s wait at pickup, while the DHS contract says you need not wait more than 15 minutes after you arrive. Ask Verida which one its dispatchers use before you mark a no-show.
• Complaints. Verida’s 2025 bid describes an Arkansas investigator who looks into rider complaints, sends providers a Request for Explanation, and investigates every accident, so answer each one fast. You can file your own complaint with Verida online, choosing Arkansas.
• Portal. Manifests and claims live in the Transportation Provider Portal at provider.verida.com, and Verida’s Arkansas page offers tech support for provider iPads.

Verida’s Arkansas contacts

As of September 2026:

For	Contact
Transportation providers	404-698-0643
Claims	678-510-4600, press 2
Arkansas state director	Cynthia Washington, 501-954-8906, cwashington@verida.com
Standing orders and facilities	855-223-1227
Dispatch for late rides	855-325-7586
NET Help Line (AFMC, for members)	1-888-987-1200, option 1
DHS Division of Medical Services	501-682-8292

What to do first

1. Find your region in the county lists above, and note which ride line your riders will call.
2. File with ArDOT and buy insurance that meets the $1,000,000 per vehicle rule with DHS as an additional insured.
3. Call 404-698-0643 or the state director and ask which counties and levels of service need providers, and whether day treatment routes need companies.
4. Send the Request for Qualifications with complete driver and vehicle lists.
5. Get every vehicle ready for Verida’s first inspection, including the camera and, on larger vans, the child safety alarm. See NEMT dash cameras.
6. Read the agreement for your rate, invoice schedule, and no-show terms before you sign.