What Is a NEMT Base Rate? How the Per-Trip Rate and Mileage Add Up

What a base rate is

A NEMT base rate is the flat amount paid for one trip, whatever its length. South Dakota calls it the base fee. It is paid once for each one-way trip, which is one trip leg, and it sits on its own claim line with its own billing code.

Nebraska’s fee schedule, revised July 1, 2026, gives the plainest official definition. Its base rates “include all services, equipment and other costs, including: vehicle operating expenses, services of personnel, first five (5) ‘Loaded’ miles of the trip, unloaded mileage, and usual waiting/standby time.”

Most programs split pay the same way: the base pays for sending a vehicle and driver, and the mileage rate pays for distance. See fee schedule for where states post these numbers.

How the base rate and mileage add up

Trip pay = base rate + (paid loaded miles × mileage rate)

Each level of service has its own pair of national codes. States choose which ones they pay.

Level of service	Base code	Mileage code
Walk-on, taxi	A0100, “Non-emergency transportation; taxi”	Varies. Indiana pays no taxi mileage, and Illinois pays it on A0425.
Walk-on, van or car	A0120 (mini-bus or other transportation systems) or T2003 (encounter/trip)	S0215, “Non-emergency transportation; mileage, per mile”
Wheelchair van	A0130, “Non-emergency transportation: wheelchair van”	S0209, “Wheelchair van, mileage, per mile”
Stretcher van	T2005, “Non-emergency transportation; stretcher van”	T2049, “stretcher van, mileage; per mile”

Illinois and Indiana bill mileage on A0425, “Ground mileage, per statute mile,” instead.

The base is simple. The paid miles are where states differ:

• Louisiana pays mileage “beginning at mile zero.”
• Indiana deducts the first 10 miles of each one-way walk-on or wheelchair trip, but you still bill every mile.
• Nebraska folds the first 5 loaded miles into the base and pays mileage only when a trip reaches 6 miles or more.
• South Dakota pays wheelchair and stretcher mileage only outside city limits, counted from the point the trip leaves them. Walk-on mileage is paid only on trips of 21 miles or more outside the city.
• Texas pays one flat amount per leg for each authorized seat, with no mileage line.

A worked example: one 12-mile wheelchair trip

Here is the same one-way wheelchair van trip, 12 loaded miles, one rider, priced with each state’s fee-for-service rates.

State	Base	Paid miles	Mileage	Trip pay
Arizona, urban (October 1, 2026)	$11.15	12 × $1.54	$18.48	$29.63
Texas, urban county (September 1, 2026)	$33.83	No mileage line	$0.00	$33.83
Indiana (January 1, 2026)	$31.79	2 × $1.67, miles 11 and 12	$3.34	$35.13
Louisiana (October 1, 2025 schedule)	$21.50	12 × $1.30	$15.60	$37.10
Nebraska (July 1, 2026)	$46.12	7 × $1.85, miles 6 to 12	$12.95	$59.07

The round trip home doubles each total. The table also shows why the base matters most on short trips. On this 12-mile trip, the base is at least half the pay in every state except Arizona.

Published base rates by level of service

These are fee-for-service rates from each state’s current schedule.

State	Walk-on base	Wheelchair van	Stretcher van	Effective
Arizona	A0120 $6.64, rural $7.27, plus S0215 $1.28 or $1.63 a mile	A0130 $11.15, rural $12.21, plus S0209 $1.54 or $1.66	T2005 $49.09, rural $86.70, plus T2049 $1.54 or $1.66	October 1, 2026
Illinois	Service car A0120 $20.00	Medicar A0130 $30.00	T2005 $9.31 or $11.64 by county, listed with the medicar rates	Schedule effective January 1, 2026. Service car and medicar mileage is $0.80, $1.03, or $1.61 by county.
Indiana	T2003 $12.71	A0130 $31.79	Goes by ambulance for dates of service since July 1, 2023	January 1, 2026. Mileage is $1.67 after the first 10 miles.
Louisiana	T2003 $13.50 plus $1.10 a mile	A0130 $21.50 plus $1.30, or $31.50 plus $1.30 for a higher level of care	Not on the NEMT schedule	Schedule effective October 1, 2025
North Dakota	A0120 $18.05	A0130 $18.05 plus S0209 $2.57	T2005 $97.37 plus T2049 $2.57	July 1, 2026
Ohio	Not on this schedule	A0130 $31.00 plus S0209 $1.30	Not on this schedule	Rates last changed January 1, 2024
South Dakota	A0100 taxi or in-town A0120 $5.20, A0120 TN outside the city $7.80	A0130 secure van $43.39 plus S0209 $2.61 outside city limits	T2005 $109.66	July 1, 2026

Arizona counts a trip as rural when it starts outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas and bills it with the TN modifier. Illinois sets its base rate by the county where the provider is registered, and its schedule notes that the service car and medicar rates were increased on January 1, 2023. North Dakota’s schedule shows how a low base and high mileage can trade off: its wheelchair van base, $18.05, equals its mini-bus base, and the wheelchair mileage rate of $2.57 makes up the difference. For every state with a published schedule, see NEMT reimbursement rates.

What the base rate covers and what it does not

Costs built into the base. CMS says miles with no Medicaid rider on board generally cannot be paid as a service. States may build the cost of those empty miles, and of rider no-shows, into their payment method instead (SMD 23-006, September 28, 2023). The base rate is where that usually happens. The same guidance says states can set higher base rates for rural providers. See deadhead miles.

Things billed on top of the base in many programs:

• Loaded miles past any included miles. See loaded miles.
• An attendant or escort, on T2001.
• Waiting time, on T2007, where the state pays it.

Things that change or cancel the base:

• A second rider. Indiana pays half the base for each extra member carried from the same county to the same area. South Dakota pays 50 percent of the base with the TK modifier.
• A trip that never happens. Louisiana’s manual says scheduled trips in which no one is transported are not billable.
• Missing approval. Illinois requires prior approval for all non-emergency transportation, so get it before the trip.

Base rates on broker and health plan trips

When a broker or health plan sends your trips, the base rate is the one in your agreement’s rate sheet, and it can differ from the state’s.

• Louisiana (Chapter 10, section 10.1, issued July 14, 2025): providers must be paid no less than the published fee-for-service rate in effect on the date of service, unless the broker and provider agree otherwise in the provider agreement.
• Indiana (module version 6.1): Verida’s NEMT rate schedule is based on the state’s professional fee schedule. Each provider signs a rate agreement, and Verida can negotiate higher or special rates with each one.
• MTM Health (standard agreement, January 1, 2023 version posted by Pennsylvania): MTM pays the rates in the agreement’s Schedule A. It may change them on written notice, and a change counts as accepted unless you reject it in writing within 30 days.

Before you sign, put the broker’s base and mileage rates next to your state’s schedule and your own cost per trip. A rate sheet helps you compare, and how to negotiate NEMT broker rates covers what to ask for.