NEMT Associations in 2027: Which Groups to Join and How They Lobby

A one-van company rarely has time to read every rate notice, sit through every hearing, or track what Congress does to Medicaid. An association does that work for a group of owners. It also trains drivers to the standards brokers ask for, and it speaks for providers when a state rewrites its rates or its broker contract. This guide covers the groups that take NEMT members, what they cost as of September 2026, and how they lobby.

The national groups that take NEMT members

Group	What it is	What members get	Dues, September 2026
The Transportation Alliance (TTA)	A nonprofit trade association for private passenger transportation, founded in 1917 and based in Fairfax, Virginia. Members include taxi, limousine, NEMT, and paratransit companies.	Federal legislative alerts, a Government Relations Committee that works on NEMT, a yearly Legislative Fly-In to meet members of Congress, and the Mobilize convention	Set by membership category. Ask for the U.S. fleet operator rate.
Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)	An association for community and public transportation, with a member category for NEMT providers, whether for-profit, nonprofit, or public	Discounts on PASS driver certification and other training, legislative analysis, the members-only FastMail newsletter, and the yearly EXPO	The NEMT category starts at $500 a year for 0 to 10 vehicles and rises with the vehicles you run in revenue service
Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Accreditation Commission (NEMTAC)	A nonprofit standards developer, accredited by ANSI since 2018. It says it is not an advocacy group or trade association.	Accreditation against its standards, volunteer seats on its advisory committees, and public comment on draft standards	Accreditation, not membership
Medical Transportation Access Coalition (MTAC)	A coalition founded by three brokers: Modivcare, MTM, and Verida	Education for federal and state policymakers on the NEMT benefit. Other groups can sign on as allies or affiliated providers.	Ask MTAC

TTA’s Mobilize 2026 convention runs October 26 to 28, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Orange County in Garden Grove, California, next to Anaheim. On its advocacy page, TTA asks Congress to protect NEMT under Medicaid. It also asks for fingerprint background checks and drug and alcohol tests for anyone paid with federal money to provide for-hire rides.

CTAA ties dues to your fleet size. It also has a $500 category for state and regional transit associations, so state groups can join it too. CTAA’s 2026 federal lobbying reports list transit funding, which pays for some of the ride programs in NEMT grants.

NEMTAC runs a national accreditation program built only for NEMT providers. Its advisory committee members serve two-year terms, and NEMTAC says the committees do not set rates, negotiate contracts, or lobby. See NEMT accreditation for what the review involves.

MTAC speaks for the broker side. When a broker coalition and a provider group take different positions on a rule, know which one you are reading.

State associations and where to find yours

States set most NEMT rates, broker contracts, and licensing rules, so a state group often matters more than a national one. Where your state has no group just for NEMT companies, look at its ambulance, transit, and paratransit associations. Here are five state groups and what each offers or has done:

State	Group	Who it represents	A recent example
Ohio	Ohio Ambulance and Medical Transportation Association	EMS and medical transportation companies, including wheelchair van providers	Testified on House Bill 795 on June 3, 2026, asking that trips by state-licensed ambulance and ambulette companies be left out of the bill’s new NEMT rules
Minnesota	Minnesota Paratransit Providers Association	Paratransit providers	Its executive director was on the witness list for the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee on March 2, 2026, with MTM and a health plan, after the state’s NEMT presentation
California	California Association for Coordinated Transportation (CalACT)	Transit and paratransit operators, human service agencies, and associate members, including for-profit contractors	Offers a vehicle purchasing cooperative, rural transit training and scholarships, and legislative advocacy. Associate dues are $1,525 for 2026.
New York	United New York Ambulance Network (UNYAN)	Privately owned ambulance companies	Commissioned an outside study of ground ambulance costs and Medicaid pay, and in 2026 asked supporters to contact state lawmakers about a proposed cut to Medicaid crossover payments in the governor’s FY2027 budget
Tennessee	Tennessee Public Transportation Association	Public transit systems and regional human resource agencies	Paid a Washington firm in 2026 to lobby Congress on transit funding and on NEMT under Medicaid

Ohio shows what this work can win. Senate Bill 315, signed July 7, 2026 and effective October 6, 2026, has Ohio Medicaid build a GPS system that records each NEMT pickup arrival, trip start, drop-off, and completion, with timestamps and route data. Every NEMT provider must use it within 18 months of the effective date, and claims without the data will not be paid once it is fully in place. The law’s definition of NEMT leaves out trips by EMS and nonemergency medical service organizations licensed by the state board of emergency medical, fire, and transportation services. That is the exemption the association asked for in June. NEMT companies without that license are covered.

How to find the group in your state

1. Read hearing agendas. Committee agendas on Medicaid transportation list each witness and the group they speak for, as Minnesota’s March 2, 2026 agenda did.
2. Read Medicaid Advisory Committee minutes. Your state must post them online within 30 calendar days of each meeting (42 CFR 431.12).
3. Search federal lobbying reports. Anyone can search lda.gov for “non-emergency medical transportation” to see which groups pay lobbyists on NEMT.
4. Ask your broker’s provider relations team which provider groups attend its network meetings.
5. Call your state ambulance and transit associations. Ask whether they take for-profit NEMT members and whether they testify on Medicaid transportation.

What members get for their dues

Benefit	Why it matters to a small company	Example
Driver training that brokers require	Some brokers and states require CTAA’s PASS certification or an equal program	MAS in New York requires PASS within 3 months of joining its network (manual of October 1, 2023). Rhode Island’s contract with MTM (effective July 1, 2025) requires it every year. Louisiana requires PASS and wheelchair securement training renewed at least every two years (Section 10.3, issued July 14, 2025).
Early word on changes	You hear about rate notices, bills, and broker changes in time to comment	CTAA sends members analysis of bills and rules, and TTA sends a Legislative Alert bulletin
A seat at the table	Advisory boards want provider voices, and associations can put names forward	Colorado requires 40 percent of its NEMT advisory board to be providers with hands-on NEMT experience
Buying power	Group purchasing can lower the price of a vehicle	CalACT members can buy through its vehicle purchasing cooperative
Rooms with brokers and plans	Conferences put you in front of broker network staff, health plans, and state officials	NEMTAC’s Transform conference is built for providers, brokers, payers, and regulators

A PASS certificate is valid for two years. PASS Online has 19 modules but no hands-on wheelchair securement, which the two-day PASS Classroom course includes. Check what your broker accepts before you pay for either. NEMT driver training lists what brokers and states require.

How associations lobby on rates and broker rules

In your state

Most NEMT money is set in state budgets, fee schedules, and broker contracts. These are the five channels a state group can use, and you can use them too:

1. Comments on rate notices. Before a significant change in how it sets Medicaid payment rates, a state must publish a notice that estimates the cost, explains why, and gives an address for written comments (42 CFR 447.205). An association can turn members’ cost figures into one comment, within the antitrust limits below. The NEMT rate increase guide walks through the full calendar.
2. Medicaid Advisory Committee meetings. At least two committee meetings a year must be open to the public, with time set aside for public comment. The state must announce each public meeting at least 30 calendar days ahead.
3. Testimony on bills. Committees take written and spoken testimony. For its March 2, 2026 hearing, Minnesota’s House committee wanted written testimony emailed to the committee administrator by 8:15 a.m. on the Friday before the Monday hearing. It asked for your name, organization, title, email, phone number, and position.
4. Seats on advisory boards. Colorado’s HB26-1328, signed June 4, 2026 and in effect since July 1, 2026, has the state broker set up a Transportation Community Advisory Board. The state Medicaid agency, the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, must work with the board on NEMT safety and oversight rules, including driver, vehicle, and provider credentialing. Forty percent of its members must be providers with hands-on NEMT experience in management, dispatch, driving, or compliance, split fairly among for-profit, nonprofit, and public providers. Members serve two-year terms without pay.
5. Cost studies and lobbyists. UNYAN paid for a cost study it uses to argue that New York’s 2025 Medicaid rates do not cover 2022 costs. The Ohio association works with a contract lobbyist at the statehouse.

In Washington

Federal rules require every state Medicaid program to make sure members can get to care (42 CFR 431.53), and Congress decides whether that stays. Lobbying firms and groups whose lobbying of Congress passes the law’s thresholds file public reports under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Here is what 2026 reports show for groups that listed NEMT or transit issues:

Client	Lobbying firm	Reported per quarter, January to June 2026	Issues listed
The Transportation Alliance	Miller & Wenhold Capitol Strategies	$25,000	NEMT, microtransit, a taxi exemption, passenger safety, and independent contractor status
Community Transportation Association of America	Winning Strategies Washington	$20,000	Federal Transit Administration funding and transportation appropriations
Tennessee Public Transportation Association	Greenberg Traurig	$20,000	Bus and transit funding, and NEMT under the Medicaid program
Modivcare Solutions	Baker & Hostetler, which ended the engagement June 19, 2026	$60,000	Policy issues related to NEMT

Each amount is what the firm reported receiving from that client for the quarter, across all the issues it listed, not NEMT alone. TTA also runs a political action committee, TTA PAC, which accepts contributions from personal funds only, never from company accounts.

What an association can and cannot do together

The FTC says most trade association work helps competition or does not affect it. Setting safety standards and speaking to lawmakers and agencies are both normal. But using an association does not protect joint conduct that would be illegal anyway, and the FTC says it is illegal to use one to control or suggest members’ prices.

Usually fine	Crosses the line
Testifying for higher Medicaid rates	Agreeing on the rates members will accept from a broker
An outside firm publishing a survey of past costs, with no company named	Sharing current or planned prices, company by company
Setting training or safety standards	Using a standard contract, operating hours, or safety code as a disguised way to fix prices
Warning members about a proposed rate cut	Agreeing together to stop taking a broker’s trips until it pays more

The FTC says cost data is less likely to raise concerns than price data, and historical data less than current or future data. Data gathered and combined by an independent third party raises fewer concerns still. Keep a written agenda for every meeting, take minutes, and end any conversation that turns to what members charge. Each company still sets its own prices and negotiates its own contract, as the guide to negotiating NEMT broker rates explains.

Dues, taxes, and the lobbying share

Most trade associations are tax-exempt business leagues under section 501(c)(6). The IRS says they may lobby when it serves their exempt purpose. The cost of that lobbying follows the dues:

• The lobbying share is not deductible. You cannot deduct the part of your dues that the association reports as used to influence legislation, support or oppose candidates, urge the public to contact lawmakers, or lobby certain executive branch officials (IRS Publication 557, revised January 2025).
• Small in-house amounts do not count. If the association spends $2,000 or less of its own staff time and money on those activities in the year, your dues are not reduced for it.
• The association must tell you. A 501(c)(6) group with nondeductible lobbying costs must notify members of the share of dues it covers, or pay a proxy tax on the amount, reported on Form 990-T.

Keep the dues notice with your records, and see NEMT business taxes for the rest of your deductions.

Should you join, and which group?

Ask these questions before you pay:

1. Does it testify in your state? Look for its name on hearing agendas and in advisory committee minutes.
2. Who runs it? Read the board list. A group led by brokers and a group led by providers can take opposite sides of the same rule.
3. Does it fit your service? Wheelchair and stretcher companies may fit an ambulance association. Sedan and minivan fleets may fit a transit or passenger transportation group.
4. What does the training discount save you? If your broker requires PASS, compare the member and nonmember price for your drivers.
5. Can you give it time? Associations run on volunteers. Advisory seats at NEMTAC and on Colorado’s board last two years.

Starting one where none exists

1. Find owners who share the problem, and invite small, medium, and large providers.
2. Incorporate as a nonprofit with your state, adopt bylaws, and get an EIN.
3. Apply to the IRS for 501(c)(6) status on Form 1024, filed on Pay.gov with the user fee.
4. Adopt an antitrust policy before the first meeting: a written agenda, minutes, and no talk of prices.
5. Register any lobbyist as your state requires. A lobbyist paid to contact Congress may also have to register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
6. Sign up for your Medicaid agency’s rate notices and advisory committee meetings, then file your first comment.
7. Connect to national work through CTAA’s state association category or TTA’s nonprofit trade association category.