# Ohio Department of Aging Provider Certification for Transportation: PASSPORT Rules and Rates (2027)

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/guides/ohio-department-of-aging-transportation-provider/ · Updated 2026-10-02

Ohio Department of Aging provider certification lets a ride company bill PASSPORT, the Medicaid waiver for adults 60 and older, for non-medical trips under rule 173-39-02.18. You apply through Ohio Medicaid's PNM system, pass a site review by your area agency on aging, and sign a rate agreement with it. A trip pays a negotiated rate of up to $653.11 one way (April 17, 2026).

- Department of Aging certification lets you bill PASSPORT, the Medicaid waiver for adults 60 and older, for rides with a non-medical purpose.
- Ohio Medicaid is not taking new waiver provider applications from May 14 to November 14, 2026, unless CMS extends the pause.
- Each trip pays a negotiated rate of up to $653.11 one way or $1,306.24 round trip, and riders from one home share a 75 percent rate.
- Drivers need EMFTS-approved first aid and CPR, a CLIA lab drug test, a fitness statement, and passenger assistance training within six months.
- Your area agency reviews you by your first anniversary and every three years after, and can suspend referrals or remove members.

The Ohio Department of Aging certifies the companies that drive older adults on PASSPORT, the Medicaid waiver that helps people 60 and older stay at home instead of moving to a nursing facility. These are not doctor visits. They are trips for a non-medical purpose written into the member's care plan, paid per trip at a rate you bid. This guide covers the department's transportation rules in depth. For ambulette licenses, brokers, and Medicaid medical trips, start with the [Ohio NEMT guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/).

## What Department of Aging certification lets you drive

Rule 173-39-02.18 of the Ohio Administrative Code (effective February 1, 2025) defines non-medical transportation as using your vehicle and driver to take a person from one place to another for a non-medical purpose. It leaves out five kinds of rides:

- rides that Ohio Medicaid or another source already offers or pays for
- rides for a non-emergency medical purpose
- rides given through a similar service under the department's rules
- rides that family, neighbors, friends, or community agencies are willing or legally responsible to give for free
- escort or transportation by a participant-directed provider, a worker the member hires directly

A PASSPORT member's ride to a doctor is a Medicaid medical trip, booked through the member's health plan or county, not a waiver trip. See [NEMT vs NMT](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/nemt-vs-nmt/) for the difference.

### Who rides and who decides

PASSPORT serves Medicaid members who are 60 or older at enrollment, meet an intermediate or skilled level of care, and would need a nursing facility without the waiver (rule 5160-31-03, effective September 22, 2025). Members live at home, not in a hospital, nursing facility, or licensed residential care facility. The department runs the waiver day to day for the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM).

The department hands the daily work to its designees: the area agencies on aging and Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, which act as PASSPORT Administrative Agencies (rule 173-39-01, effective November 1, 2025). Each region follows an area agency's planning and service area, except that one splits in two: Clark, Greene, and Montgomery counties form Region 2, and Champaign, Darke, Logan, Miami, Preble, and Shelby counties form the region Catholic Social Services runs. The agency's case managers write each member's person-centered services plan, and the department pays only for services that plan authorizes (rule 173-39-02).

Certification does not bring riders by itself. The department's certification page says referrals are not guaranteed and asks applicants to check with the local PASSPORT Administrative Agency on how many certified providers already serve the area. Call yours before you spend money on the application. The department lists 866-243-5678 to find your local area agency, and the [area agency on aging guide](https://nemtguide.com/guides/area-agency-on-aging-transportation/) covers the agencies' other ride contracts.

The same certification reaches past PASSPORT. The MyCare Ohio waiver covers non-medical transportation as rule 173-39-02.18 defines it, and to be paid you enroll with ODM and the member's MyCare Ohio plan (rule 5160-58-04, effective January 1, 2026).

## Can you apply in 2026?

Not as a new waiver provider until the pause ends. ODM's statewide moratorium stops new Medicaid enrollment for eight provider types, including waivered services organizations and waivered services individuals, from May 14 to November 14, 2026, unless CMS authorizes an extension. Applications ODM had not processed by May 14 were denied, with any application fee refunded. As of October 2026, the department's certification page carries the same notice and says ODM will not accept new Medicaid applications from waiver individuals and organizations.

During the pause, enrolled providers keep working, revalidate when due, update their details in PNM, and can request added specialties by email to Medicaid_Provider_Update@medicaid.ohio.gov. No new service locations are added. If you believe your application was denied by mistake, the department asks you to write to Provider_Enrollment@age.ohio.gov.

Use the months before November 14 to get ready: background checks, insurance, an NPI, and written policies, so you can file as soon as applications reopen. The same pause covers developmental disability waiver rides, as the [DODD transportation guide](https://nemtguide.com/guides/ohio-dodd-non-medical-transportation/) explains.

## What you need before you apply

The department certifies only two kinds of transportation providers (rule 173-39-02.18):

- **Agency providers.** A legally organized business that employs staff. A van company with hired drivers applies this way.
- **Non-agency providers.** A business owned and controlled by one self-employed person who does not employ or contract with anyone else to provide services.

Rule 173-39-02 (effective April 1, 2025) and the department's checklists (revised March 4, 2024) ask every applicant for:

- registration with the Ohio Secretary of State and a photo ID for each owner
- a business site with a locked space for records
- at least $1 million in commercial liability insurance that covers members' losses from theft or property damage, plus written instructions a member can use to claim a loss (a non-agency provider may carry professional liability instead)
- employee dishonesty or property damage coverage, which can be a warranty, surety, or business services bond
- a Bureau of Workers' Compensation certificate in good standing, or for a sole proprietor with no employees, a written notice of that status
- a table of organization showing lines of authority
- an NPI. ODM's taxonomy guide for these providers (2020) lists 343900000X, non-emergency medical transport (van), as a possible code for non-medical transportation. See [how to get an NPI](https://nemtguide.com/guides/how-to-get-an-npi-number-for-nemt/).
- proof that the applicant has lived in Ohio for the past five years
- a BCI criminal records check sent straight to the department, using reason code 173.27, 173.38, 3701.881, 5123.081, or 5123.169, and an FBI check under code 173.41 if you lived outside Ohio in the past five years

Have both results sent to Ohio Department of Aging, Provider Certification, 30 E Broad St, 22nd Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-3414. A check run for a former employer does not count. Agencies also disclose every owner with a 5 percent or larger interest and any owner convicted of a felony. They attest to civil rights, wage-and-hour, and workers' compensation compliance and to paying the most recent year's taxes, and they upload the department's home and community-based settings evaluation.

Agency applicants pay a nonrefundable application fee in the wizard, plus 2.5 percent on credit cards. Non-agency applicants pay no fee. As of October 2026, the department's certification page still shows the 2025 fee of $730, which was the federal Medicaid application fee for that year. Ohio Medicaid's 2026 enrollment FAQ puts the federal fee at $750 per application in 2026, and you skip it if you paid it to Medicare or another state's Medicaid program in the past five years and send proof. A new federal amount takes effect each January 1.

## How to get certified, step by step

1. **Call your PASSPORT Administrative Agency.** Ask whether it needs more transportation providers in your counties.
2. **Run background checks.** Get BCI checks, and FBI checks where needed, for owners and employees at a WebCheck location, and search the seven databases in rule 173-9-03.
3. **Gather the checklist documents** as digital files. The department does not accept paper.
4. **Create an OH|ID account** at ohid.ohio.gov.
5. **Start in PNM.** In ODM's Provider Network Management module, choose the Ohio Department of Aging and your provider type. You have 10 days to finish this part, and you should write down the REG ID it gives you.
6. **Finish in the Provider Certification Wizard.** PNM hands you to the department's application, which must be completed within 10 days of starting in PNM or it is deleted. Upload your documents and pay any fee. A submitted application is deleted after 90 days if requested documents or the BCI results have not arrived. The department may ask for more information, due within five business days (rule 173-39-03, effective July 1, 2024).
7. **Host the pre-certification review.** The area agency visits your business site to check your documents and policies, and it has 60 days after a complete application to recommend approval or denial. The department's page says the visit can take a full day and ends with an exit conference.
8. **Sign the provider agreement.** After the department approves you, your PASSPORT Administrative Agency signs an agreement with you naming its term, your region, and the rate per unit you will accept.
9. **Get system access.** Ask the agency for access to S-AGE, the department's new system, where certified providers receive referrals. You need an OH|ID, your Medicaid ID, and a signed Code of Responsibility, form AGE 1113.

The department may deny an application for false statements, a disqualifying background, unmet requirements, an earlier revocation, or an earlier denial for false information within three years. After a final denial order, you cannot reapply for one year. To add a region or another business site later, apply under rule 173-39-03.4 and the agency reviews the new site. The department's page says expansion carries no added fee.

## Driver rules

Rule 173-39-02.18 adopts Ohio's ambulette driver law, R.C. 4766.14, as filled in by rule 4766-3-13. Before you hire a driver, you need:

- a signed statement from a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant, or a DOT physical, saying the person has no condition, including uncorrected vision, that could interfere with safe driving, passenger assistance, or emergency care
- first aid and CPR training from an organization approved by the State Board of EMFTS (see [CPR requirements for NEMT drivers](https://nemtguide.com/guides/cpr-requirements-for-nemt-drivers/))
- a drug test from a CLIA-certified laboratory showing the person free of alcohol, amphetamines, THC, cocaine, opiates, and PCP
- a driving record with fewer than six points
- the background checks in Chapter 173-9 of the Administrative Code

The department adds its own hiring rules. Each driver must have held a valid license for at least two years, with any endorsement the vehicle needs. Each must understand written and oral instructions and be able to do three tasks: help the member move safely from the pickup point into the vehicle and on to the destination, run the daily wheelchair vehicle check, and collect the trip records. You may keep a driver only if they finish an EMFTS-approved passenger assistance course within six months of hire.

Three kinds of drivers can show a current license or certificate instead of meeting those hiring rules: ambulette drivers, drivers for a county transit system or regional transit authority or commission, and EMTs or first responders who passed the EMFTS curriculum, even if their certification has lapsed.

### Background checks under Chapter 173-9

Rule 173-9-03 (effective February 1, 2026) requires a search of seven databases: SAM, the HHS OIG exclusion list, the DODD abuser registry, ODM's provider exclusion and suspension list, the attorney general's sex offender database, the prison system's offender database, and the Ohio nurse aide registry. A name on any of the first six disqualifies the person from paid direct care. On the nurse aide registry, a finding of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation does. ODM's automated registry check system can search them all at once and keep checking.

Under rule 173-9-04 (effective February 1, 2026), an agency starts the BCI check when a driver applicant is under final consideration and must have it done by the moment of hire. It runs the check again within 30 days after every five-year hiring anniversary. Enrolling a driver in Rapback, which checks criminal records daily, meets that five-year deadline without new fingerprints. For a non-agency provider, the department checks the owner at certification and every five years. The [NEMT driver background check guide](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-driver-background-check/) explains how the checks work.

## Vehicle rules

Rule 173-39-02.18 sets five duties for your vehicles and the trips they run:

- **Maintenance.** Service each vehicle, and any wheelchair lift, on the manufacturer's schedule.
- **Yearly inspection.** Use a vehicle only if an ASE-certified mechanic, or another mechanic the area agency approves, inspected it in the last 12 months on the department's form and answered every question yes. A vehicle with a current ambulette license, or a bus with a current State Highway Patrol safety decal, meets this rule.
- **Daily wheelchair check.** Before the first trip of the day, check the permanent fasteners, harnesses or belts, and ramp or lift of any vehicle that carries a wheelchair rider, and keep the record.
- **Two-way communication.** Give every driver a radio or cell phone on every trip.
- **Backup plan.** Have a backup plan for trips when a driver or vehicle is unavailable.

The yearly form is ODA0004 (revised February 1, 2025). It asks about the horn, three red reflectors or flares, a secured 5-pound ABC fire extinguisher, a first aid kit, a seatbelt cutter, and an isolation and biohazard kit. It covers wipers, every mirror including a convex blind-spot mirror, and lights. It checks the heater, defroster, and air conditioning, steering, and tires with at least 1/16 inch of tread and no retreads on the steering axle. It finishes with the exhaust, the gas tank, seats fastened securely to a metal floor with no holes, and safety glass instead of Plexiglas. Bus-type vehicles add emergency door checks. Pair it with the free [vehicle inspection checklist](https://nemtguide.com/templates/nemt-vehicle-inspection-checklist/) for daily checks.

### Do you need an ambulette license?

Ohio's ambulette licensing chapter does not apply to a company certified by the department, to the extent it provides ambulette services, if it meets R.C. 4766.14 and does not provide ambulette services billed to the Ohio Medicaid state plan (R.C. 4766.09(N), effective August 1, 2018). R.C. 4766.14 also requires an isolation and biohazard disposal kit installed or secured in each vehicle's cabin. Once you also bill Ohio Medicaid for wheelchair van trips, you need the license from the State Board of EMFTS, which the [Ohio guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/) covers.

## What PASSPORT pays and how you bill

Non-medical transportation is a per-job bid service: you and the department or its designee negotiate a rate per job, and a job is one trip, whether one way or round trip (rule 173-39-02.18 and rule 5160-31-07, effective October 1, 2024). The rate cannot exceed the billing maximums in the appendix to rule 5160-1-06.1, effective April 17, 2026: $653.11 for a one-way trip and $1,306.24 for a round trip. Those are ceilings, not typical rates. Build your bid from your own [cost per trip](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-cost-per-trip/).

Shared rides from one home pay less. When you carry more than one PASSPORT member who live in the same home, in the same vehicle, to the same destination, each is paid at a group rate of 75 percent of your per-job rate. With an example bid of $40 one way, a married couple riding together earns you $30 for each spouse, or $60 for the trip.

The rate in your provider agreement is payment in full. You may not bill the member for any difference, ask for a copay, or accept tips or gifts. The department pays only for trips in the member's plan, and payments are subject to ODM's hold and review process (rule 173-39-02).

The department's modernization page says that beginning October 5, 2026, claims are submitted directly in S-AGE, and the PASSPORT Administrative Agency that authorized your services helps you file them. Only claims entered by hand move to S-AGE. Companies that send claims by EDI keep doing so. Non-medical transportation is not on Ohio's electronic visit verification list (rule 5160-32-01, effective July 1, 2024), which covers PASSPORT's in-home care and nursing services.

## Trip records and conduct rules

Every trip needs seven items (rule 173-39-02.18):

1. the member's name
2. the date
3. the pickup point and time
4. the destination and drop-off time
5. the driver's name
6. the driver's unique identifier, attesting that the driver gave the trip
7. the member's unique identifier, attesting that the member received it

A unique identifier can be a handwritten or electronic signature or initials, a fingerprint, mark, stamp, password, barcode, or swipe card (rule 173-39-01). The [NEMT trip log template](https://nemtguide.com/templates/nemt-trip-log-template/) has room for most of these.

Rule 173-39-02 sets the rest:

- **Records.** Keep service records for six years after payment, or longer until any review or audit is settled. Keep driver qualification records, such as background checks and training, for the whole employment and six years after. Give reviewers immediate access during business hours.
- **Reports within one business day.** Report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation to adult protective services, and tell the agency within one business day. Report significant changes within one business day too, such as a trip you could not give at the authorized time, a member who moved, or repeated refusals.
- **Notice before you stop.** Give the member and the agency 30 days' written notice before your last day of service, unless the member is hospitalized, moves to long-term care, dies, or chooses to stop, or someone's safety is at serious risk.
- **Conduct.** While serving a member, staff may not drink alcohol, use impairing drugs, accept gifts or tips, make personal calls or texts, smoke or vape, or discuss religion or politics. They may not post a member's photo on social media without written or electronic consent.

## Compliance reviews and discipline

Rule 173-39-04 (effective January 1, 2025) sets the structural compliance review. Your first review must happen by the one-year anniversary of certification. After that, non-medical transportation providers are reviewed every three years, and the agency may also arrive unannounced at any time. Reviews usually happen on site at your business, and a company with no Ohio business site gets a desk review.

The reviewer checks a sample of paid trips for 10 percent of the members you served in the previous six months, at least 3 and no more than 30. The driver sample grows with it: three drivers for up to 3 members, up to ten drivers for 28 to 30. The department's guidance lists what it looks at for transportation: annual inspections on its form, daily inspection records, background and database checks, orientation and training files, and trip verification.

If the reviewer finds problems, you hear about them at the exit interview, and a summary letter follows within 10 business days. You then have 10 business days to send a plan of correction or evidence that you comply. If the reviewer finds a billing error on a sampled trip, you return the overpayment. Where it finds problems, the department may widen the sample or order an independent audit at your expense.

Discipline follows rule 173-39-05 (effective July 1, 2024). The area agency can demand a plan of correction within seven business days, suspend new referrals, or remove members by changing their plans to stop authorizing you. The department itself can also issue a written warning, impose a civil money penalty or an order to repay, or suspend or revoke your certification. The rule gives no appeal for a written warning, a correction plan, suspended referrals, or removed members. You can appeal a fiscal sanction, a suspended or revoked certification, or any other sanction by requesting a hearing under Revised Code Chapter 119 within 30 days after the notice is served (R.C. 119.07). R.C. 173.391(E) removes the hearing when the action rests on certain grounds, such as a lost Medicaid provider agreement, no Medicaid claims in two years, or refusing reviewers access to your site. For county medical ride work, see the [Ohio county NET contracts guide](https://nemtguide.com/guides/ohio-county-net-contracts/).

## Frequently asked questions

### Who can get Ohio Department of Aging certification for non-medical transportation?

Only agency and non-agency providers, under rule 173-39-02.18. An agency is a legally organized business that employs staff. A non-agency provider is a business owned and controlled by one self-employed person who employs or contracts with no one else to provide services. Both need $1 million in commercial liability insurance that covers members' theft and property losses, an Ohio Medicaid provider agreement, and an agreement with the regional PASSPORT Administrative Agency.

### Can I apply to the Ohio Department of Aging right now?

Not until November 14, 2026, unless CMS extends the pause. Department of Aging certification starts with a Medicaid application in PNM, and Ohio Medicaid has frozen new waiver organization and individual enrollments since May 14, 2026. The department's certification page carries the notice. If you think the department denied your application by mistake, email Provider_Enrollment@age.ohio.gov. Use the wait to finish background checks, insurance, and policies.

### How much does PASSPORT pay for a non-medical ride?

You and the Department of Aging or its designee negotiate a rate per job, and a job is one trip, one way or round trip. The appendix to rule 5160-1-06.1 (effective April 17, 2026) caps it at $653.11 one way and $1,306.24 round trip. When you carry two or more PASSPORT members from the same home, in the same vehicle, to the same place, each is paid 75 percent of your rate.

### Do I need an ambulette license for PASSPORT trips?

Not for the trips themselves. Ohio's ambulette licensing chapter does not apply to a company certified by the Department of Aging, to the extent it provides ambulette services, if it meets the driver and equipment rules in R.C. 4766.14 and does not provide ambulette services billed to the Ohio Medicaid state plan (R.C. 4766.09(N)). Once you also bill Medicaid wheelchair van trips, you need the license.

### What training do PASSPORT transportation drivers need?

First aid and CPR from a provider approved by the State Board of EMFTS before hire, and an EMFTS-approved passenger assistance course within six months of hire. Drivers also need a medical fitness statement or DOT physical, a CLIA lab drug test, a driving record under six points, two years with a license, and Chapter 173-9 background checks. Licensed ambulette drivers and transit drivers can show their credential instead.

### How often will the area agency review my company?

Your first structural compliance review comes by the one-year anniversary of certification, then every three years for non-medical transportation, under rule 173-39-04 (effective January 1, 2025). Reviews can also be unannounced. The reviewer checks your vehicle inspections, driver files, and trip records for a sample of 10 percent of the members you served in the prior six months, at least 3 and at most 30.

### How do I bill PASSPORT trips in 2026?

In S-AGE, the Department of Aging's new system. The department says that beginning October 5, 2026, claims entered by hand are submitted directly in S-AGE, and the PASSPORT Administrative Agency that authorized your services helps you file them. Companies that send claims by EDI keep doing so. You bill only trips in the member's service plan, at the rate in your agreement.

## Official resources

- [Ohio Department of Aging: Certification Information](https://aging.ohio.gov/agencies-and-service-providers/certification)
- [Rule 173-39-02.18, non-medical transportation](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-173-39-02.18)
- [Ohio Medicaid Provider Network Management (PNM) login](https://ohpnm.omes.maximus.com/OH_PNM_PROD/Account/Login.aspx)
- [Long Term Care Agency checklist (PDF)](https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/aging.ohio.gov/Long_Term_Care_Agency_Checklist.pdf)
- [Long Term Care Non-Agency checklist (PDF)](https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/aging.ohio.gov/Long_Term_Care_Non-Agency_Checklist.pdf)
- [Form ODA0004, Annual Vehicle Inspection (PDF)](https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/aging.ohio.gov/rules/Form_ODA0004_2025-02-01.pdf)
- [Structural Compliance Review and Discipline Guidance](https://aging.ohio.gov/agencies-and-service-providers/training/scr-discipline-guidance)
- [S-AGE access and claims](https://aging.ohio.gov/agencies-and-service-providers/it-modernization)
- [Find your local area agency on aging](https://aging.ohio.gov/find-services)
- [Ohio Attorney General: WebCheck fingerprint locations](https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Business/Services-for-Business/WebCheck/Webcheck-Community-Listing)