Alignment Health Transportation: American Logistics Rides, Trip Limits by Plan, and Will-Call Returns

Alignment Health is a Medicare Advantage plan that sells in Arizona, California, Nevada, North Carolina, and Texas. To use the ride benefit, members call American Logistics, which books each ride and sends it to a rideshare car or an NEMT van. For a NEMT owner the van trips are the work: members who need a wheelchair, a driver at the door, or a will-call ride home.

Who books Alignment Health rides

Alignment’s schedule transportation page, updated June 24, 2026, says American Logistics facilitates member transportation. Members book in the Alignment member portal, under Schedule Transportation, or call 1-866-327-2247 (TTY 711), Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in their local time. The 2027 flyer, modified September 15, 2026, gives the same hours. Alignment’s Evidence of Coverage booklets, including the 2027 My Choice edition, still list the number for Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., except holidays. Alignment’s 2026 provider manual lists the same number as its transportation contact. Questions about a plan’s benefit go to Member Services at 1-866-634-2247 (TTY 711).

The page names two kinds of vehicle. Rideshare cars take curb-to-curb trips, and NEMT vehicles are for members who need any mobility assistance. Alignment recommends door-to-door service for those members. A trip a rideshare driver takes is not van work, so the part of the benefit that reaches vans is the door-to-door and wheelchair trips, including their will-call and recurring rides.

Which trips an Alignment plan covers

Alignment’s 2026 Evidence of Coverage booklets set the same ride rules in all five states, and the 2027 booklets repeat them:

• Where members go. Routine rides to and from a doctor or specialist’s office, lab, pharmacy, or dentist inside the plan’s service area, at no cost to the member.
• What is not routine. A trip that needs a gurney or a reclining position, and scheduled surgeries or procedures under sedation.
• Wheelchairs. A standard-size wheelchair in working order, picked up at an address with ramp access. A member with a cane or walker who needs ramp access may also qualify.
• Drivers. Drivers have no medical training and are not approved to lift or carry a member, whether the member walks or uses a wheelchair.
• Escorts. An ambulatory rider may bring one escort aged 18 or older.
• Hours. Rides serve appointments Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except holidays. Extended hours may be available for dialysis appointments.

Distance is measured from the member’s home address. A member who cancels less than 24 hours before the ride, or at pickup, has a no-show, and the no-show counts as one trip against the yearly limit. Log your drivers’ arrival and wait times, since a no-show uses up one of the member’s trips.

How far ahead members book

A rideshare car can be booked the same day with two hours’ notice, but a van trip needs two business days. Alignment’s page and its transportation flyer, whose 2027 edition was modified September 15, 2026, give the same rules for both:

Ride	Book at least	Driver waits	Will-call return
Rideshare car, curb to curb	2 hours ahead, same day	5 minutes	Within 15 minutes
NEMT van, door to door or wheelchair	2 business days ahead	15 minutes	Up to 1 hour

A booked ride is not confirmed until the day of the trip. On the ride day the member gets a text or a voice call with the ride time, the driver’s name, and the pickup address. If no driver or vehicle is free, the ride is canceled, usually around the time of the trip, and the member has to call again. Within 30 minutes of the pickup time, a member can call American Logistics for a status update.

Will-call returns

A will-call return is booked for the appointment day with no pickup time. The member activates it by clicking the link in the confirmation text or by calling 1-866-327-2247. A rideshare will-call should arrive within 15 minutes, and Alignment says a van may take up to one hour. A return booked for a set time should arrive within 15 minutes of that time. That hour is the window to plan your return capacity around. The will-call glossary entry and the guide on managing will-call trips cover pickup windows.

Standing orders

For members who have had cancellations on repeating appointments, such as dialysis or chemotherapy, Alignment offers a standing order. American Logistics works with the ride vendor to book the recurring rides ahead of the dates so a driver and vehicle are set before the day. A member asks American Logistics or Member Services to create one. See standing orders and dialysis transportation for how to run them.

Trip limits by plan and state

Alignment does not give every member the same ride benefit. The count and the distance are set plan by plan, and they can change each January. CMS’s 2026 plan benefit file lists 68 Alignment plans sold to individuals, and 47 of them include rides. Every one counts one-way trips and sets a yearly limit. California has the most plans with rides, 26 of 40, and the highest limit, 100 trips. The range in each state:

State	Plans with rides	One-way trips a year	Distance from home
Arizona	5 of 6	24 to 50	25 or 50 miles
California	26 of 40	20 to 100	20 to 50 miles
Nevada	6 of 8	24 to 60	50 miles
North Carolina	5 of 7	28 to 50	30 to 50 miles
Texas	5 of 7	34 to 50	30 or 50 miles

Plan type shapes the limit more than the state does:

• Regular plans. 23 of 44 include rides. The median is 26 trips, and 24 is the most common limit, on 7 plans.
• Chronic condition plans (C-SNPs). All 19 include rides, from 32 to 100 trips, and 14 of them list 50. Heart & Diabetes and Balance are two of the names.
• Dual eligible plans (D-SNPs). All five list 50 trips in 2026. Members of these plans have Medicare and Medicaid, which the D-SNP glossary entry explains.

Three details change how much a plan sends you:

• Dialysis. Balance (HMO C-SNP) 033, a California plan for members with chronic kidney disease, limited to end-stage renal disease in 2026, lists 42 trips plus unlimited trips to dialysis centers. It is sold in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
• Care Center rides. AllCare Preferred in Stanislaus County (Modesto) lists 26 trips and unlimited trips to Alignment’s Care Center at no copay.
• Rides sold as an add-on. smartHMO and smartSavings plans list no rides in the base plan. Their optional Complete Package, $64.90 a month in the 2026 summaries, adds 24 one-way trips within 30 miles. Advantage PPO 001, sold in Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Orange, San Diego, and Ventura counties, offers 12 trips within 30 miles in its Options+ package at $48 a month. A member who skips the package gets no rides.

Plans with no ride benefit at all in 2026 include the four Sutter Advantage +More plans, ValorCare, My Choice PPO, and AVA PPO in North Carolina. For wheelchair and door-to-door demand, the plans worth watching are the chronic condition and dual eligible ones, since they give members the most trips.

What changes on January 1, 2027

Alignment’s 2027 Summaries of Benefits, for the plan year that starts January 1, 2027, keep most limits and change some. Six plans that continue lower their limit:

• Heart & Diabetes 010 in California goes from 50 trips to 48.
• Central Health Harmony 031 in Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties goes from 28 to 26.
• Balance 033 in California goes from 42 to 34, and still lists unlimited dialysis trips.
• Heart & Diabetes 048 in California goes from 50 to 24.
• Duals+ 007 in Texas goes from 50 to 36.
• Duals+ 009 in Texas goes from 50 to 40.

For van owners, the larger change is geography. The 2027 summaries add Kern (Bakersfield), Kings, and Tulare counties in California, Nye County in Nevada, Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg (Charlotte), and Rowan counties in North Carolina, and Bexar (San Antonio) and Comal counties in Texas. The new ONE and BRIDGE plans in the San Antonio area list 50 trips within 30 miles, and the new Platinum plan in the Charlotte area lists 20 trips within 30 miles. In Kern, Kings, and Tulare, Platinum 057 lists 14 trips within 50 miles and Honor Plus 060 lists 50 trips within 50 miles. The summaries also list Central Health Harmony, Harmony Plus, BRIDGE, and Platinum Preferred plans in Los Angeles and Orange counties, with 32 to 96 trips. Platinum Preferred+ lists no rides.

How a NEMT company gets Alignment trips

1. Match your service area. Check your counties against the five states above, and against the 2027 additions if you run vans near Charlotte, San Antonio, or Bakersfield. Each Summary of Benefits lists the counties its plans cover.
2. Apply to American Logistics. Alignment names it as the company that facilitates the rides, so the application goes there. Use the provider request form on its Join our Network page, and name every Alignment county you can cover. The American Logistics guide walks through the form, the insurance and employee driver rules, and how trip offers are priced and paid.
3. Hold the right vehicles. The door-to-door and wheelchair trips go to vans. American Logistics says it contracts with certified local for-hire providers, and the form asks for your wheelchair and ambulatory fleet sizes. Ask which credentials the Alignment trips need, since some of its clients require more insurance than its minimum.
4. Staff the weekday daytime window. Alignment’s Evidence of Coverage says rides serve appointments Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and dialysis appointments may run later. Keep return capacity free, since a will-call return can come in at any time and a van has up to an hour to arrive.
5. Meet your state’s rules. State licensing and vehicle rules still apply to every trip. See the guides for California, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Texas.
6. Plan for Medicare rules. Plan trips come with exclusion checks and record-keeping. The guide on Medicare Advantage transportation covers them, and the OIG exclusion list entry explains the monthly check.

For a Medicare Advantage plan whose rides run through a different company, see SCAN Health Plan.