How to Get NEMT Broker Contracts in 2027: Find, Apply, and Read the Contract

In a broker state, a broker contract is how a small NEMT company gets Medicaid trips. The broker holds the contract with the state or a health plan, assigns the rides, and pays you. Without its contract, you get none of those trips. Getting one takes four things: the right broker, a company that passes its checks, a need for vehicles in your area, and terms you can live with.

How NEMT broker contracts work

A state may run Medicaid rides through a broker under federal rule 42 CFR 440.170(a)(4). The state must pick the broker through competitive bidding, judged on experience, performance, references, resources, qualifications, and cost. The broker must monitor access, complaints, and timeliness, and make sure drivers are licensed, qualified, competent, and courteous. The state audits it. See federal rules for NEMT brokers for the full rule in plain English.

The broker then signs its own agreement with each transportation company. That agreement is your broker contract. It sits under the broker’s contract with its client, the state or health plan, and it often passes the client’s rules and penalties down to you. MTM Health’s standard agreement, in the January 1, 2023 version Pennsylvania posts, lets MTM pass through any sum its client charges MTM for your performance.

Federal rules protect you in three ways:

• No payment for referrals. You may not offer the broker any payment, kickback, rebate, cash, gift, or service in kind to influence referrals (42 CFR 440.170(a)(4)(ii)(C)).
• No self-dealing. A broker generally may not send trips to a transportation company it has a financial relationship with. The exceptions cover rural areas and specialized trips with no other qualified provider, too few other providers, and government brokers.
• Pay that keeps providers in the network. CMS expects states to make sure a broker does not pay so little that local providers will not take part (SMD 23-006, September 28, 2023).

Step 1: Find the broker that runs rides where you drive

Start with your state Medicaid agency’s NEMT page. It names the broker, or the regional brokers, and many link a map. Then check the health plans. In managed care states, each plan may use its own broker, so one state can have several. In Virginia, for example, fee-for-service rides move from Modivcare to MTM Health on October 1, 2026, but MTM’s handbook says about 94 percent of Virginia Medicaid members got rides through managed care as of July 2024.

State	Who manages Medicaid rides (September 2026)	What it means for your contract
Georgia	Verida, in all five regions since April 1, 2026	One broker contract covers the state
Indiana	Verida for fee-for-service. WellTrans since January 1, 2026 for Healthy Indiana Plan and Hoosier Healthwise members of Anthem, CareSource, and MHS.	Serving both groups takes two contracts
Louisiana	MediTrans, for several Medicaid health plans, including Aetna, AmeriHealth Caritas, Healthy Blue, Humana, and Louisiana Healthcare Connections	One broker serves several plans
New York	Medical Answering Services (MAS), the state’s one Medicaid transportation broker	A MAS letter of support comes before Medicaid enrollment
Virginia	Modivcare for fee-for-service trips through September 30, 2026, and MTM Health for trips from October 1, 2026	Fee-for-service trips from October 1, 2026 need an MTM contract
Wisconsin	MTM Health. The state named Verida in a notice of intent on May 21, 2026, with no transition date yet.	Expect to credential again with Verida
Arkansas	Regional brokers. Pulaski, Faulkner, and Lonoke counties (Region G) moved to Modivcare on January 2, 2026.	Contract with the broker for each region you serve
Montana	Modivcare, for rides on or after October 1, 2026, taking over provider enrollment and billing from the state’s claims contractor	Enrollment runs through Modivcare
Texas	Health plans contract their own ride vendors. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas moves from Modivcare to MTM Health on October 1, 2026.	A plan’s switch moves its riders, recurring trips included

States rebid these contracts on a schedule. Wisconsin says state law requires it to procure its NEMT vendor regularly, and its latest request for proposals was S-1699 DMS-25. A new broker must have its network ready by its start date, so an award is a good time to apply. Montana’s July 9, 2026 notice, for example, says Modivcare will reach out to current and new providers with its enrollment steps. See NEMT brokers by state for all 51, how states run NEMT for the models, and NEMT broker RFPs for where awards are posted.

Step 2: Get your company ready before you apply

Brokers check your company, drivers, and vehicles before they send a single trip. Have these ready first.

Medicaid enrollment, NPI, and tax ID

Many broker networks require state Medicaid enrollment. Federal rules require states to screen and enroll every network provider of a Medicaid health plan, including providers that contract through a subcontractor such as a ride broker (42 CFR 438.2 and 438.602(b)). A plan may sign you while enrollment is pending, but only for up to 120 days. Indiana’s provider module (August 2025) has IHCP-enrolled providers sign with Verida. New York goes the other way around. MAS reviews your application and decides whether to give you a letter of support. New York rejects new non-medical transportation applications submitted after April 15, 2024 without that letter.

You will also need an NPI and your IRS tax ID. SafeRide Health’s application (September 2026) asks for both, plus whether you are approved for Medicaid rides. New York’s enrollment page (May 2026) wants the IRS letter that assigned your EIN and does not accept a W-9 instead. See how to become a Medicaid transportation provider and how to get an NPI number for NEMT.

Drivers and vehicles

Federal law sets the floor. Under section 1902(a)(87) of the Social Security Act, each provider and driver must not be excluded from federal health programs, each driver must hold a valid license, and each provider needs a process for drug-law violations. You must also be able to disclose each driver’s driving history to the state. Check every owner and driver against the OIG exclusion list before you apply.

Brokers add their own lists. Verida’s Georgia checklist (September 2026) asks for a current business license, proof of liability insurance, driver credentials, criminal background checks, drug screens for all owners and drivers, and driving records for all drivers. Modivcare’s list (September 2026) includes a PASS wheelchair certificate from hands-on wheelchair training, first aid and CPR, defensive driving, drug screens, driving records, and background checks. It also wants current vehicle registration, and a passed inspection where your state requires one. The credentialing checklist and NEMT broker credentialing cover the full file.

Insurance

Insurance minimums differ by broker and state, so get quotes before you apply.

Broker and document	Auto liability	General liability	Also required
MTM Health, standard agreement (January 1, 2023)	$500,000 combined single limit	$500,000 per occurrence and aggregate	Workers’ compensation. MTM named as additional insured, and MTM may raise limits by notice.
MTM Health, Wisconsin (September 2026)	$1,000,000 combined single limit	$1,000,000 combined single limit	MTM as certificate holder and additional insured
MTM Health, Nevada (September 2026)	$1,500,000	$1,500,000	Workers’ compensation. MTM as certificate holder and additional insured.
MTM Health, Missouri (September 2026)	$2,000,000	$2,000,000	Workers’ compensation. MTM as certificate holder and additional insured.
WellTrans, Indiana (October 16, 2025)	$1,500,000 per accident, or more if local taxi rules require it	$1,000,000 per incident, including sexual abuse and molestation	$1,000,000 professional liability for wheelchair vehicles. Workers’ compensation with employer’s liability.
MediTrans, Louisiana (September 2026)	$1,000,000 per occurrence	Required	Workers’ compensation or an approved waiver. MediTrans as certificate holder.
SafeRide Health (September 2026)	$500,000	$1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate	SafeRide as additional insured
Verida, Georgia (September 2026)	Covers all owned, hired, and non-owned autos	$1,000,000 sexual abuse and molestation coverage, $2,000,000 aggregate	Insurers rated A- or better

Your insurer will issue a certificate of insurance naming the broker. See NEMT insurance requirements for the coverage types.

Step 3: Apply to each broker

Each broker has its own front door. This is where each one starts, as of September 2026.

Broker	Where to start	What happens next
MTM Health	The Apply to Join Our Network form on its service providers page	If MTM needs providers in your area, it contacts you about contracting. If not, it keeps your information on file. In Wisconsin the steps are application, credentialing, and contracting.
Modivcare	The form on its become a transportation provider page, which also maps its priority areas	Credentialing on its driver, vehicle, and insurance requirements, with field visits to check vehicles
Verida	A Request for Qualifications form with your driver and vehicle lists	If there is a need in your region: an interview, documents, vehicle inspections and driver training, then an owner orientation where you sign the contract
WellTrans	Its become a provider form or its provider relations manager	If your region needs providers: an interview and a document request
MediTrans	A letter of intent emailed to its provider team	A reply in 3 to 5 business days, then background checks, insurance, documents, and training. Acceptance depends on how full its network is in your area and which vehicle types it needs, and you get a letter either way.
Medical Answering Services (New York)	The MAS Transportation Provider Network Application	A letter of support if MAS approves, then Medicaid enrollment with the state, then the MAS network contract
SafeRide Health	The form on its what to expect page	Credentialing of your company, vehicles, and drivers. An application not finished within 30 days starts over.
MediDrive (Colorado)	Its transportation provider application	A review and follow-up in 3 to 5 business days. MediDrive began Denver metro rides on July 1, 2026.

Most applications move through the same six steps:

1. Apply. Send the form with your service area, hours, and a list of vehicles and drivers.
2. Wait for the need check. The broker decides whether it needs your vehicle types where you drive.
3. Send documents. Business license, insurance certificates, and every driver and vehicle file.
4. Pass inspections and training. Vehicles are inspected and drivers finish the broker’s required courses.
5. Attend orientation and sign. At Verida, the owner signs the contract at the end of orientation.
6. Get activated. MediTrans says trip offers begin within 24 to 48 hours of activation.

If a broker says its network is full, ask to stay on file, and ask again when a health plan or the state changes brokers. When a broker network is full covers other ways in.

What brokers look at when they send trips

Signing is only the start. A contract with no trips pays nothing, and brokers send trips to providers who perform.

MTM Health’s standard agreement (January 2023) says it picks providers for trips on quality, service availability, and competitive pricing against other providers in the area. SafeRide Health’s June 2023 guide says volume follows vehicle capacity, service area, cost, and meeting its service standards, and its best performers are first in line to grow.

In Virginia, under the handbook approved August 10, 2026 for trips from October 1, 2026, MTM sends trips to providers seven days ahead based on capacity, hours, trip distance, and credentialing status. Five days ahead, open trips go to a marketplace any provider in the area can accept. Standing orders already set to a provider, and members with a required provider on file, go to that provider automatically.

New York works by choice. MAS assigns each trip to the transportation company the member chose, then to the one the medical provider chose, and by rotation when nobody chose (eMedNY, May 2026). Good service that makes members and clinics ask for you by name is how you win trips there.

Each broker publishes the numbers it holds you to:

• MTM Health, Virginia (handbook for trips from October 1, 2026): on time over 95 percent, provider no-shows under 0.25 percent, substantiated complaints under 0.1 percent, turnbacks under 0.5 percent, and GPS tracking on over 90 percent of trips.
• MediTrans, Louisiana (September 2026): on time 95 percent or higher, trips completed 98 percent or higher, complaints under 2 percent of trips, and provider-caused no-shows under 1 percent.
• SafeRide Health (September 2026): 100 percent response to ride offers, 95 percent acceptance, 95 percent on time, complaints under 1 percent, and trips handed back under 5 percent.

Miss them and trips shrink. MTM’s Virginia handbook uses points: 3 points suspend your marketplace access, and 10 points end your contract. Meet them and some programs pay more: the same handbook shares a quarterly pool of collected liquidated damages among providers at 95 percent on time or better. See NEMT broker scorecards and how to get more broker trips.

Contract clauses that cost providers money

Two public agreements show what to look for: MTM Health’s standard agreement (January 1, 2023 version) and WellTrans’s Indiana agreement (revised October 16, 2025). Your contract may read differently, so find each of these in yours before you sign.

Clause	What these agreements say	What to do
Trip volume	MTM guarantees no minimum trips and may reassign any trip, recurring trips included. WellTrans may withdraw any assigned trip.	Never buy a van on a promise of volume. Keep other payers.
Subcontracting	MTM bars assigning the agreement, or handing any trip to another company, without its written consent.	Never pass a broker trip to a friend’s company without written approval.
Rate changes	MTM may change the agreement, rates included, by written notice. The change stands unless you reject it in writing within 30 days.	Read every notice the day it arrives, and answer in writing.
How pay is figured	WellTrans pays the lower of your billed charge or its rate sheet. Its mapping software sets the miles, and running the trip accepts them. It pays the shared-ride rate on trips that fit its definition, even if you did not share the van.	Check miles before you accept, and model your pay with shared rides included.
Deductions from pay	WellTrans may deduct the cost of training materials, credentialing services you use through it, and copays you collect.	Ask for a list of every deduction.
Filing deadline	MTM refuses claims more than 90 days old, unless its client sets another limit. WellTrans wants invoices within 60 days and refuses them after 90.	Bill daily or weekly.
Penalties	WellTrans charges fixed amounts, such as $100 each time your van fails to show, $150 for a late dialysis arrival plus $50 for each hour past the first, and $200 for each percentage point of trips handed back above 15 percent in a month.	Get the full penalty schedule before you sign. See NEMT broker penalties.
Offsets	Both let the broker subtract penalties and overpayments from what it owes you.	Match every remittance to your trips.
Pay when paid	WellTrans may delay your payments while its client owes it money.	Keep a cash reserve.
Indemnity and insurance	You defend and cover the broker, and MTM’s client, against claims from your work. MTM wants your policies primary and non-contributory, with MTM as additional insured.	Show the indemnity clause to your insurance agent.
Records and audits	MTM requires records for 10 years and allows unannounced inspections. WellTrans requires records for 10 years after the contract ends and copies within 3 days’ notice.	Store trip logs where you can pull them in a day.
Leaving	MTM: 30 days’ written notice, and you must run assigned trips during it. WellTrans: 60 days’ written notice, and leaving without it forfeits everything WellTrans owes you.	Put the notice rules on your calendar. See how to leave a NEMT broker.
Broker’s exits	MTM can end the agreement at once if its own client contract ends or loses funding. It then holds your unpaid claims until it audits them.	Bill the broker fast when a state or plan changes brokers.

A few other terms deserve a slow read. MTM’s agreement runs three years and renews only by written agreement of both sides, while WellTrans’s renews each year unless one side gives notice 45 days before the year ends. Both bar you from recruiting or hiring the broker’s employees, including anyone who left it in the past year. WellTrans keeps its rates confidential. MTM’s agreement makes you pay its legal costs if you breach, and both parties waive a jury trial. WellTrans sends unresolved disputes to binding arbitration by Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration, free of charge.

If you plan to sell or borrow against your receivables, read the assignment clause. MTM bars assigning the agreement without its written consent and wants 30 days’ written notice before you assign your right to payments. Payments that come straight from a state Medicaid program carry their own federal limits on assignment (42 CFR 447.10). See NEMT factoring.

Can you negotiate a broker contract?

Sometimes, and mostly on rates. Indiana’s provider module (August 2025) says Verida’s rate schedule is based on the state’s fee schedule, and that each provider signs a Verida rate agreement. It adds that Verida can negotiate higher or special rates with each provider individually. MTM Health’s Wisconsin page (September 2026) says it discusses and sets rates with each provider individually.

Before you ask, know your cost per trip by level of service. Then ask in writing for:

1. The full rate sheet for each level of service, including wait time, extra passengers, and after-hours trips.
2. How the broker measures miles, and how you can challenge them.
3. The penalty schedule, which MTM keeps in a separate Schedule B.
4. The filing deadline, the payment schedule, and the dispute steps.
5. The insurance limits for each vehicle type.
6. Any software, app, or GPS the broker requires, and what it costs you.

MTM’s agreement itself says you are responsible for getting a lawyer’s advice before you sign. Take that advice, especially on indemnity, offsets, and termination. How to negotiate NEMT broker rates covers the rate case.

Keeping the contract after you sign

Expired paperwork can cost you trips as fast as late pickups. MediTrans warns (September 2026) that providers who fall out of compliance lose their standing orders until a corrective plan brings them back. SafeRide’s June 2023 guide expects answers to compliance requests within 48 hours and bars drivers with expired documents from its trips. MTM Health’s Virginia handbook says out-of-date credentials can cut your trip volume and your pay, and cost you your contract at renewal.

• Track every expiration date: licenses, insurance, inspections, background checks, drug tests, and training. See NEMT recredentialing.
• Bill the way the contract says, inside the deadline. How to bill NEMT brokers walks through it.
• Watch for broker changes in your state and your health plans, and credential with the new broker before its start date. See NEMT broker transitions.
• Escalate in writing when a broker does not pay or answer. The state stays responsible for oversight of its broker. See how to escalate a NEMT broker problem.

The broker directory has a page for each broker and state NEMT manager, with its provider contacts and requirements.