# CareSource Ohio Transportation: Provide A Ride Trips, the 15 Round Trip Limit, and How to Join

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/health-plans/caresource-ohio/ · Updated 2026-09-30

CareSource Ohio Medicaid members book free rides through Member Services at 1-800-488-0134 at least two business days ahead, and Provide A Ride, its broker since May 1, 2021, arranges each trip. Since April 15, 2026, trips under 30 miles are capped at 15 round trips a year, while dialysis, prenatal, and wheelchair van rides stay unlimited. Ride companies join through Provide A Ride.

- CareSource arranges its Ohio Medicaid rides through Provide A Ride, so a ride company gets CareSource trips by contracting with Provide A Ride.
- On April 15, 2026, CareSource cut its allowance for trips under 30 miles from 30 round trips a year to 15.
- Dialysis, prenatal care, hospital discharges, and wheelchair van rides have no cap, so those trips keep coming all year.
- CareSource drivers wait five minutes, and three no-shows in three months can suspend a member's rides for six months.
- Plan trip rates come from your Provide A Ride agreement, not the Ohio Medicaid fee schedule.

## CareSource (Ohio Medicaid) rides at a glance

| Fact | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Who books the ride | CareSource Member Services, 1-800-488-0134 (TTY 711), weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., at least two business days ahead. Members can also book in the Provide A Ride app, linked from providearide.com/request-a-ride. |
| Ride broker | Provide A Ride, of Cleveland, since May 1, 2021, when it replaced Modivcare |
| Booking for a patient | Provide A Ride facility line, 1-833-297-3064, in CareSource's November 2025 provider manual. CareSource also opened an online ride scheduling portal to offices on January 1, 2022. |
| Short trips | Up to 15 round trips or 30 one-way trips a calendar year under 30 miles from home, since April 15, 2026. The allowance was 30 round trips before that date. |
| Unlimited trips | Dialysis, prenatal and postpartum care, parents visiting a baby in the NICU, hospital admission and discharge, and child wellness, pediatrician, and Healthchek (EPSDT) visits |
| Always covered | Every necessary ambulance and wheelchair van ride at any distance, and car rides to Medicaid-covered care 30 miles or more from home. Wheelchair van and 30-mile trips never count toward the 15. |
| Driver wait | Five minutes. After that the driver may leave, and the trip counts as one of the member's 15. |
| No-shows | Members cancel at least two hours before pickup. Three no-shows within three months can suspend a member's rides for six months. |
| How to join | Provide A Ride's online Transportation Provider Questionnaire, with your EIN, NPI, fleet counts, and, for wheelchair vans, your Ohio EMS ambulette certificate |
| When trips run out | CareSource refers the member to the county job and family services office, which arranges rides to Medicaid visits under 30 miles |

CareSource arranges its Ohio Medicaid rides through one broker, Provide A Ride, a Cleveland company that took over the benefit on May 1, 2021. Provide A Ride says it manages the Medicaid ride benefit for more Ohio members than all other managed care brokers combined, and that it still runs a fleet of more than 100 vehicles of its own (partner page, updated March 27, 2026). Ohio's statewide layers, from the PUCO certificate and ambulette licensing to the county NET program, are in the [Ohio guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/).

## Who books CareSource rides in Ohio

Members call CareSource Member Services at 1-800-488-0134 (TTY 711), weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., at least two business days before the visit. CareSource's February 11, 2026 notice also sends members to Provide A Ride's online request page, and that page points CareSource members to the Provide A Ride app or the number on the back of their insurance card. Same-day rides are for urgent trips: a hospital discharge, an urgent care visit, or an urgent visit to the member's own provider.

Clinics and hospitals book for a patient in two other ways:

- **Facility line.** CareSource's provider manual gives Provide A Ride's facility line, 1-833-297-3064 (TTY 1-800-750-0750), for arranging a Medicaid member's ride.
- **Office portal.** CareSource's January 26, 2022 notice opened an online portal for offices to schedule CareSource rides from January 1, 2022. The notice, under Official resources below, gives the email for requesting access.

The ride home works differently. The member handbook tells members to ask the provider's office to call the transportation company for the return trip, and warns that the ride home may come from a rideshare driver who can arrive before the member is outside. Members are also asked to say at booking if they use a walker or wheelchair, need a back entrance pickup, or have no phone the driver can reach. Ask Provide A Ride where those notes appear on your trip details so your drivers see them before they arrive.

## What CareSource covers, and the April 2026 cut

Ohio's 2027 plan comparison, updated July 1, 2026, says every Ohio Medicaid plan must cover necessary ambulance and wheelchair van rides at any distance, and car rides when the nearest network provider is 30 or more miles away. CareSource adds an allowance of shorter trips on top. As of September 2026:

| CareSource ride | What the member gets |
|---|---|
| Ambulance or wheelchair van | Every medically necessary ride, any distance. Wheelchair van trips never count toward the yearly limit. |
| Car ride to care 30 miles or more from home | Covered for Medicaid-covered medical and pharmacy visits, outside the limit |
| Dialysis | Unlimited |
| Prenatal and postpartum care, and parents visiting a baby in the NICU | Unlimited |
| Hospital admission or discharge | Unlimited |
| Child wellness, pediatrician, and Healthchek (EPSDT) visits | Unlimited |
| Any other trip under 30 miles from home | Up to 15 round trips or 30 one-way trips a calendar year |

The 15 short trips cover doctor visits, pharmacy pickups, flu shots, WIC, county caseworker meetings to renew Medicaid, and food trips to pantries, milk banks, and grocery curbside pickup. CareSource can fill them with a bus pass, mileage paid to a member or family member who drives, or a rideshare ride when no other ride is available. Members in a CareSource care management program or CareSource Life Services may qualify for more.

The allowance was 30 round trips (60 one-way) until April 15, 2026, when CareSource's February 11, 2026 notice cut it to 15. That is the same 15 round trips CareSource offered when Provide A Ride started in 2021. The provider manual on CareSource's site still shows 30 as of September 2026, so rely on the notice, the member handbook, and CareSource's transportation page, which all say 15.

### What the limit means for your schedule

The trips that shrink are short ambulatory rides. A member who uses all 15 round trips by summer gets no more capped CareSource rides until January, and CareSource can meet some short trips with a bus pass or family driver mileage instead of a van. The uncapped trips run all year: [dialysis](https://nemtguide.com/guides/dialysis-transportation/) runs, prenatal visits, [hospital discharges](https://nemtguide.com/guides/hospital-discharge-transportation/), and every wheelchair van ride. A company with [ambulette](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/ambulette/) vans near a dialysis center feels the cut least.

When a member runs out, CareSource refers the member to the county department of job and family services, which arranges rides to Medicaid-approved visits under 30 miles through its own NET program. County NET trips are arranged apart from Provide A Ride, so they are a second door to the same riders. See [Ohio county NET contracts](https://nemtguide.com/guides/ohio-county-net-contracts/) and the county pages for [Franklin](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/franklin-county/), [Hamilton](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/hamilton-county/), and [Cuyahoga](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/cuyahoga-county/).

## Ride rules your drivers will meet

CareSource's Ohio Medicaid member handbook sets rules your drivers see at the curb:

- **Earliest pickup time.** Members are told to be at the pickup address by the earliest pickup time they were given.
- **Five-minute wait.** The driver can wait only five minutes. After that the driver leaves, and the trip counts as one of the member's 15.
- **Cancellations.** Members must cancel at least two hours before the scheduled pickup.
- **No-shows.** A member who is not at the pickup address at the earliest pickup time, or who does not cancel two hours ahead, is a [no-show](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/no-show/). The transportation company may take away the member's ride benefit for six months after three no-shows within three months.
- **Behavior.** Swearing, name-calling, or threats against drivers or CareSource staff can suspend rides for the member's family for six months. CareSource and the transportation company may stop service at once when a member abuses the benefit.

Ohio's contract with its health plans, revised July 2026, adds the timing floor: pickup no more than 15 minutes before or after the scheduled time, and never more than 30 minutes after the requested time. It also says the vendor must try to reach a member who is not outside and must not leave before the scheduled pickup time, so record the arrival time, each call attempt, and the departure time for every no-show. A [trip log](https://nemtguide.com/templates/nemt-trip-log-template/) and [how to reduce no-shows](https://nemtguide.com/guides/how-to-reduce-nemt-no-shows/) cover the habits that protect those trips.

CareSource members who are also in OhioRISE, Ohio's program for children with complex behavioral health needs, bring one more rule. CareSource's provider manual says it must arrange rides for family members, caregivers, and siblings who are minors in the home when the trip supports the child's treatment, even when the child is not in the vehicle. See [behavioral health transportation](https://nemtguide.com/guides/behavioral-health-transportation/).

## How to get CareSource trips through Provide A Ride

You do not sign with CareSource for rides. You sign with Provide A Ride, and its partner page says it picks new partners by network needs, operational capabilities, experience, and location, so a complete application is not a promise of work.

1. **Get your Ohio registrations first.** Every for-hire passenger carrier needs a PUCO certificate, and wheelchair vans also need an ambulette license and a permit for each van from the State Board of EMFTS. The steps and fees are in the [Ohio guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/).
2. **Get an NPI.** The questionnaire requires it along with your EIN, and asks for your Ohio Medicaid ID if you have one. See [how to get an NPI number for NEMT](https://nemtguide.com/guides/how-to-get-an-npi-number-for-nemt/).
3. **Fill out the Transportation Provider Questionnaire.** It is linked from Provide A Ride's partner page, and only complete applications count. It asks for your years in NEMT, your yearly count of one-way trips, the counties where you pick up the first leg of a round trip, your vehicle and driver counts, your oldest vehicle, and whether you have cameras and GPS.
4. **Upload your certificates.** Wheelchair companies upload the Ohio EMS certificate for wheelchair service, and ambulance companies the one for ambulance service. Every applicant uploads current auto and general liability certificates of insurance, and the insurance questions check for at least $500,000 combined single limit auto liability, and $500,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 aggregate general liability.
5. **Follow up.** Finished questionnaires go to Provide A Ride's Provider Relations team. For contracting questions, use the form at providearide.com/contact and choose "I'm interested in contracting for services."

The full list of checks the questionnaire asks about is on the [Provide A Ride page](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/provide-a-ride/). For how plan ride contracts work in general, see [contracting with Medicaid health plans](https://nemtguide.com/guides/contract-with-medicaid-health-plans/).

### What CareSource trips pay

Ohio leaves plan trip rates to the contract. Under rule 5160-15-28, effective August 1, 2026, a ride furnished under an arrangement with a Medicaid health plan is paid by the provider agreement, not the state fee schedule. Ask Provide A Ride for its rate schedule by service level before you sign. Ohio's own fee-for-service maximums, $31.00 a wheelchair van trip and $1.30 a loaded mile since January 1, 2024, are a fair yardstick, and the [Ohio guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/) has the full table.

## Who to call

| For | Contact |
|---|---|
| A member's CareSource ride | Member Services, 1-800-488-0134 (TTY 711), weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Booking for a patient | Provide A Ride facility line, 1-833-297-3064 |
| Joining the network | Transportation Provider Questionnaire, from providearide.com/become-a-transportation-partner |
| Contracting questions | providearide.com/contact, "I'm interested in contracting for services" |
| Provide A Ride main office | 4299 Cranwood Parkway, Cleveland, Ohio 44128, (888) 288-7050 |
| Rides after the allowance runs out | The member's county job and family services office, listed in the ODJFS local agencies directory |

CareSource's MyCare plan, for members with both Medicare and Medicaid, is covered in CareSource MyCare transportation. Buckeye's rides run through a different broker; see [Buckeye Health Plan transportation](https://nemtguide.com/health-plans/buckeye-health-plan-ohio/).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the CareSource transportation phone number in Ohio?

Members call CareSource Member Services at 1-800-488-0134 (TTY 711), weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., at least two business days before the visit. Clinics and hospitals booking for a patient call Provide A Ride's facility line at 1-833-297-3064. Members can also book in the Provide A Ride app, which providearide.com/request-a-ride links to. Same-day rides are for hospital discharges and urgent visits.

### Does CareSource use Provide A Ride for transportation?

Yes. CareSource moved its Ohio Medicaid rides to Provide A Ride on May 1, 2021. Members could use Modivcare, formerly LogistiCare, through April 30, 2021. As of September 2026, CareSource's provider manual and its February 11, 2026 notice both send ride requests to Provide A Ride.

### How many free rides does CareSource Ohio give members?

Since April 15, 2026, up to 15 round trips or 30 one-way trips a calendar year for trips under 30 miles from home. Dialysis, prenatal and postpartum care, NICU visits by parents, hospital admission and discharge, child wellness, pediatrician, and EPSDT visits are unlimited. Wheelchair van rides and car rides to care 30 miles or more away never count toward the 15.

### How do I become a CareSource transportation provider in Ohio?

Apply to Provide A Ride, not to CareSource. Fill out its Transportation Provider Questionnaire with your EIN, NPI, fleet and driver counts, pickup counties, and insurance limits, and upload your Ohio EMS certificate if you run wheelchair vans. Provide A Ride picks partners by network needs, operations, experience, and location, so not every complete application is accepted.

### How much does CareSource pay for NEMT trips?

Your rate is set by your Provide A Ride agreement. Ohio rule 5160-15-28, effective August 1, 2026, says a ride given under an arrangement with a Medicaid health plan is paid under the provider agreement, not the state fee schedule. As a yardstick, Ohio pays fee-for-service wheelchair van trips up to $31.00 plus $1.30 a loaded mile, rates set January 1, 2024.

### What happens when a CareSource member runs out of rides?

A member in a CareSource care management program can ask the care manager for more rides. Otherwise CareSource refers the member to the county department of job and family services, which arranges rides to Medicaid-approved visits under 30 miles through its own NET program, separate from Provide A Ride.

## Official resources

- [Provide A Ride: Become a transportation partner and the application](https://providearide.com/become-a-transportation-partner/)
- [Provide A Ride: Contact form for contracting questions](https://providearide.com/contact/)
- [CareSource: NEMT update for Ohio Medicaid providers (February 11, 2026)](https://www.caresource.com/documents/oh-med-p-5050461_nemt-caresource-network-notification.pdf)
- [CareSource: Ohio Medicaid member handbook](https://www.caresource.com/documents/oh-medicaid-member-handbook.pdf)
- [CareSource: Ride scheduling portal for provider offices (January 26, 2022 notice)](https://www.caresource.com/documents/oh-multi-p-109748-transportation-scheduling-network-notification_final/)
- [CareSource: Ohio Medicaid provider manual](https://www.caresource.com/documents/oh-provider-manual.pdf)
- [Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline: 2027 health plan comparison](https://ohfiles.blob.core.windows.net/public/OhioMHWebsite/Documents/2027%20Managed%20Care%20Health%20Plan%20Comparison%20Guide.pdf)
- [Ohio Department of Job and Family Services: Find your county office](https://jfs.ohio.gov/about/local-agencies-directory)