What Is Stair Chair Transport? When NEMT Riders Need One, the Crew, and the Pay

What stair chair transport means

A stair chair is a portable chair built to carry a seated person up and down flights of stairs. New Jersey’s ambulance rules describe it that way: a portable stair-chair “for the safe transport of patients up and down flights of stairs” (N.J.A.C. 8:40-6.8). The crew straps the rider in and carries the chair, so the rider never has to walk the steps.

Stair chair transport is not a separate mode or level of service. It is equipment the crew brings for the part of the trip between the rider’s door and the vehicle, on a wheelchair van, ambulette, or stretcher van trip. The rest of the ride is billed like any other trip in that mode.

When a rider needs a stair chair

The question is how the rider gets from their door to the curb. A stair chair fits a rider who:

• Lives up or down stairs with no elevator, ramp, or lift.
• Can sit upright for the carry.
• Cannot walk the steps safely, even with a hand from the driver.

A rider who cannot sit up needs a stretcher instead. Virginia’s rules list three carriers for its stretcher vans: a scoop stretcher, a Reeves stretcher, or a stair chair. New Jersey lists Reeves-type and folding stretchers as the portable kind its ambulances use to carry stretcher-bound patients up and down stairs. A rider who needs care on the way needs an ambulance. Illinois goes further: its handbook (March 11, 2024) treats a rider who needs help with stairs or lifting, and otherwise meets the criteria, as meeting medical necessity for a non-emergency ambulance.

Ask about stairs when you book. Our trip intake guide covers the questions that catch a walk-up apartment before the crew arrives.

Who may carry a rider on stairs

Many programs keep drivers from carrying riders on stairs. The rule depends on the program:

Program	What it says about stairs
CareOregon NEMT manual (February 2024)	Drivers help members on stairs when needed but may not physically assist or carry a member up or down. The driver notifies the NEMT manager when that is the case.
Virginia Medicaid member manual (June 2026)	Drivers do not assist members confined to a wheelchair up or down stairs.
MTM Health, Virginia fee-for-service broker from October 1, 2026 (handbook approved August 10, 2026)	Curb-to-curb and door-to-door help never include lifting. Drivers, other than ambulance or stretcher van crews, should not enter a residence.
Virginia FFS requirements (May 26, 2026)	The NEMT provider must supply a scoop, Reeves, or stair chair stretcher when the passenger needs one.
New York Medicaid (manual effective August 25, 2023)	Ambulette staff help riders walk, climb, or go down stairs, with no limit on the number of stairs or floors. A stretcher service must have the staff and equipment to move the stretcher up and down steps where there is no elevator or ramp.
New Jersey mobility assistance vehicles (N.J.A.C. 8:40-5.3)	A second crew member must be there when a wheelchair rider is moved up or down five or more steps, or when a rider of 200 pounds or more in a wheelchair is moved up or down two or more steps.

The reason is the weight. NIOSH’s safe patient handling curriculum (Publication 2009-127, November 2009) says that when a caregiver would have to lift more than 35 pounds of a person’s weight, the person should be treated as fully dependent and moved with assistive devices. Carrying an adult down a flight of stairs by hand puts far more than that on each person. See safe passenger transfers for the rest of the lifting rules.

The crew, the chair, and the training

Two people. Virginia’s stretcher vans run with a driver and an assistant, and New York’s stretcher services need at least two employees for every stretcher rider. New Jersey requires a second crew member for longer flights. Send two trained people on any stair chair trip.

Training. Virginia requires its stretcher van driver and assistant to complete DMAS-approved training in first aid, bloodborne pathogens, and transferring, loading, and unloading stretcher passengers. Train your crews on the stair chair you own, using its maker’s instructions, and keep the record in each driver file. The stretcher training guide covers crew skills in more depth.

The chair. New Jersey’s rule for its basic life support ambulances is a useful floor for any crew that buys one. Each stair chair needs two sets of 2-inch-wide safety restraints with quick-release metal buckles, and hook-and-loop closures are not allowed. Check the chair’s weight rating against the rider’s weight before the trip, and see bariatric transportation for heavier riders.

Where it rides. Store the chair so it cannot move in a sudden stop. New Jersey does not allow stretchers in its mobility assistance vehicles at all, so check your state’s vehicle rules before you add stretcher-type equipment to a wheelchair van.

How stair chair trips are paid

Medicaid pays for the ride, not for the stairs. The October 2026 HCPCS file has no code for stair chair service, so the trip bills under its mode, such as A0130 for a wheelchair van or T2005 for a stretcher van. New York says ambulette providers give personal assistance and door-to-door service at no additional or enhanced charge, and its program does not limit the number of stairs or floors.

A few programs pay for the second person. Minnesota’s rate page (revised July 1, 2026) pays $9.00 a trip for an additional attendant on stretcher (mode 7) trips only, billed as T2001, and the statute limits it to an attendant deemed medically necessary. Illinois covers an employee attendant on its wheelchair van trips with prior approval. Check whether your broker pays anything extra before you accept a standing order with stairs.

For private pay riders and facility contracts, you set the price. Put the crew’s added minutes and the second person into the quote, as the NEMT pricing guide shows.

A dispatch example

A rider on the third floor of a walk-up building has a weekly wound care appointment. She sits up well in a wheelchair but cannot manage the stairs. Dispatch books a two-person crew, adds time at pickup and at the return, and loads the stair chair.

At the door the crew moves her from her own wheelchair into the stair chair, straps her in, and carries her down with one person at each end. At the curb they move her back into her wheelchair and secure it in the van. The trip bills at the wheelchair rate. The extra time and the second crew member are costs the company carries, so the stairs belong in the price whenever you set it yourself.