What Is a Medicaid Provider Number? How It Differs From Your NPI and Where It Goes

Once your state approves your Medicaid enrollment, it gives your company a number that belongs to its program alone. You will enter it in portals, on claim forms, and on broker applications for as long as you take Medicaid rides. Here is what it is, how it differs from your NPI, and how to keep it working.

What a Medicaid provider number is

Each state Medicaid program assigns its own ID to every provider it enrolls. The names differ from state to state:

State	What the number is called
Arizona	AHCCCS ID, from the AHCCCS Provider Enrollment Portal (APEP)
Indiana	IHCP Provider ID, which every enrolled provider receives
New York	An eight-digit Medicaid identification number
Illinois	Provider number, from the IMPACT enrollment system
North Carolina	A provider ID generated by NCTracks for atypical providers
Texas	An atypical provider identifier (API) for individual transportation participants and rideshare companies in its Medical Transportation Program

Where you have an NPI, it is the number payers see first. Federal rule 42 CFR 431.107 makes every provider eligible for an NPI give it to the state and put it on all Medicaid claims. HIPAA health plans must use the NPI to identify any provider that has one (45 CFR 162.412). North Carolina says the NPI replaces its old Medicaid Provider Number for those providers, and Indiana links each NPI to its IHCP Provider ID behind the scenes.

Van and taxi companies are a special case. The NPI is for health care providers as HIPAA defines them, and several states treat NEMT as atypical, meaning outside that definition:

• Indiana says transportation providers other than ambulances are atypical, are not required to have NPIs, and use their IHCP Provider IDs in place of an NPI (Provider Enrollment module, September 8, 2026).
• Arizona enrolls NEMT companies as provider type 28, an atypical organization, with no NPI required (enrollment packet PEP-111.28, September 2026). If you get an NPI later, you ask AHCCCS to add it to your provider ID.
• North Carolina lets a NEMT company enroll as an organization with an NPI or as an atypical organization that files claims with its NCTracks ID.
• Illinois lets atypical transportation providers bill with the provider number instead of a 10-digit NPI (handbook, March 11, 2024).

Your state and each payer decide if you need an NPI at all. See how to get an NPI number for NEMT and NPI Type 1 vs Type 2.

Medicaid provider number vs NPI

	NPI	Medicaid provider number
Who issues it	CMS, through NPPES	Your state Medicaid program
When you get it	Before you enroll, if you need one	When the state approves your enrollment
Where it works	Every payer in every state	Only that state’s Medicaid program, and the brokers and plans that ask for it
What it points to	Your company. The taxonomy code on your NPI record says what kind of provider you are.	One enrollment. Indiana gives a separate Provider ID for each provider type you enroll.
Renewal	None, but update NPPES within 30 days of a change	Revalidation at least every five years, and every four in Arizona
After a sale	Stays with the company that owns it	Not transferable in Illinois. A new tax ID ends the enrollment.

When and how you get your provider number

1. Form your company and get an EIN. The state enrolls the legal entity, so these come first.
2. Get an NPI if you need one. Texas requires an NPI to enroll unless its enrollment system, PEMS, lists your provider type as exempt. Indiana does not require one from van companies.
3. Apply in your state’s enrollment portal. That is APEP in Arizona, IMPACT in Illinois, PEMS in Texas, the Provider Services Portal in New York, and NCTracks in North Carolina. New York deletes an application that is not submitted within 45 days of starting it.
4. Pay the application fee where your state charges it. The federal fee is $750 for applications submitted in 2026. New York requires it from non-medical transportation applicants.
5. Pass screening. Every state checks federal databases, including NPPES and the OIG exclusion list. States that screen NEMT as moderate or high risk, such as North Carolina and Arizona, also make a site visit, and high risk adds fingerprints. See Medicaid provider risk levels.
6. Watch for your approval. Arizona posts a welcome notice in the APEP inbox, and it does not approve applications back to an earlier date in most cases.
7. Share the number. Give it to each broker and health plan. CMS’s NPI form also lets you list other provider numbers, such as a Medicaid number and its state, so payers can match your NPI to it.

The whole process is in how to become a Medicaid transportation provider.

Do broker and health plan trips need one?

Usually, yes. Federal rule 42 CFR 438.602 requires states to screen and enroll every network provider of their Medicaid health plans. A plan may sign you while the state works, but only for up to 120 days. States apply this in their own ways:

• Illinois requires both health plan and fee-for-service transportation providers to enroll in IMPACT.
• Indiana requires providers who take fee-for-service rides through its broker to enroll with Medicaid first and then contract with Verida (transportation module, August 19, 2025).
• Broker agreements can require it too. MTM Health’s agreement in the version Pennsylvania posts (January 1, 2023) makes you keep every license and registration needed to operate as a Medicaid provider in your service area (section 2.H).

See NEMT broker credentialing for the rest of what brokers collect.

Where the number goes on claims and forms

Where	What goes there
CMS-1500, box 33a	Your billing NPI, if you bill with one
CMS-1500, box 33b	A qualifier and your non-NPI ID, with no space between them. The NUCC manual (July 2025) uses G2 for a payer-assigned provider number and ZZ for a taxonomy code. Follow your state’s manual for which one it wants here.
CMS-1500, box 24J	The rendering provider’s ID. In Arizona, atypical provider types use the AHCCCS ID unless they gave AHCCCS an NPI.
New York paper transportation claim (Claim Form A), field 1	Non-emergency transportation providers enter their eight-digit Medicaid ID (billing guidelines, August 5, 2026).
Texas Medical Transportation Program claims, box 33A	Demand response providers enter their NPI or API. Individual transportation participants and rideshare companies enter their API.
Electronic 837P claims	Indiana’s atypical billing providers send their IHCP Provider ID in loop 2010BB, in a REF segment with the qualifier G2.
Your NPI record	The optional other identifiers section, with the state

Keep it apart from the rider’s Medicaid ID, which goes in box 1a. For a box-by-box walk through the claim, see the CMS-1500 guide for NEMT, and for electronic claims, 837P.

How to keep your provider number active

• Revalidate on time. Federal rules make states revalidate every provider at least every five years (42 CFR 455.414). Arizona revalidates every four years in APEP. See Medicaid revalidation.
• Keep billing. Texas disenrolls a billing location with no claims for 24 months. It sends a courtesy letter at 18 months, and claims for any gap before you reenroll are denied.
• Keep your NPI active. When NPPES shows an NPI as inactive, Texas disenrolls every location tied to it.
• Renew licenses before they expire. Arizona can end a provider ID when you miss its deadline to upload a renewed license or certificate, and you then file a new application.
• Report ownership changes. New owners must be disclosed within 35 days after the change (42 CFR 455.104). In Illinois, a change that needs a new federal tax ID ends the enrollment, and a new owner billing under the old number risks recoupment. See changes Medicaid needs to know about.