Kaiser Permanente Medi-Cal Transportation: Who Books Rides and Who Drives Them

Kaiser Permanente does not hand all of its Medi-Cal rides to one company. Car, taxi, and bus rides go through a transportation provider on one phone line, while wheelchair van, gurney van, and ambulance rides start with a provider’s order and are scheduled by Kaiser’s own regional transportation teams. Medi-Cal’s statewide rules, from PAVE enrollment to van equipment, are in the California guide. This page covers what is different about Kaiser’s members and how a company gets their trips.

Where Kaiser runs Medi-Cal

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan has contracted directly with DHCS for Medi-Cal since January 1, 2024, in the 32 counties where Kaiser sells commercial coverage, its 2025 Medi-Cal provider manual supplement says. Before that, DHCS’s enrollment report listed Kaiser as a plan in only five counties. Its count went from 218,253 members in Sacramento, San Diego, Placer, El Dorado, and Amador in December 2023 to 1,067,973 members in 32 counties in January 2024.

DHCS counted 1,263,410 Kaiser Medi-Cal members in August 2026, in its report last updated September 11, 2026. Kaiser’s provider quick reference guide, posted in March 2026, puts about 40 percent of its Medi-Cal members in its Northern California region and 60 percent in Southern California. The counties with the most:

County	Kaiser Medi-Cal members, August 2026
Los Angeles	341,809
Sacramento	131,742
San Bernardino	101,128
Riverside	91,961
Alameda	78,524
Orange	72,263
San Diego	70,064
Contra Costa	62,013
Santa Clara	51,326
Solano	39,635
San Joaquin	37,536

Kaiser is a large share of the work in some counties and a sliver in others. In Riverside and San Bernardino, it has more members than Molina (82,640 and 74,852), though far fewer than IEHP, so check the Riverside County page for the local permits there. In Los Angeles County it sits behind L.A. Care and Health Net; see the Los Angeles County page. In Tulare it had 162 members, in Kings 286, and in Imperial 36.

Check the ZIP code and the Home Region

Kaiser serves whole counties in some places and a list of ZIP codes in others. The 2026 handbook covers all of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Orange, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Stanislaus counties. In Amador it covers only ZIP codes 95640 and 95669, and in Imperial only 92274 and 92275. Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Ventura, and ten other counties are partial too.

Each member belongs to a Home Region, Northern or Southern California. Non-medical rides are covered inside the member’s Home Region service area. Outside it, Kaiser covers them only with its approval, except for urgent care.

Car, taxi, and bus rides: the 844 line

Kaiser calls these non-medical transportation (NMT). Its 2026 handbook covers a free ride to a Medi-Cal visit, to pick up a prescription, or to get medical supplies, when the member has tried every other way to get there. The rules for this lane:

• Booking. Members call Kaiser’s transportation provider at 1-844-299-6230 (TTY 711) at least 3 business days ahead. The provider guide gives the hours as Monday to Friday, 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Urgent rides, including hospital discharges, can be booked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• No doctor’s order. Unlike wheelchair and gurney rides, these need no clinical approval.
• Who qualifies. The member must be able to walk without help from the driver. A member who uses a wheelchair and cannot get in and out of the vehicle alone belongs in the other lane.
• Lowest cost. Kaiser covers the cheapest ride type that meets the member’s needs, to the closest provider with an open appointment.

Kaiser’s 2026 handbook and its provider guides call the 844 line only Kaiser’s transportation provider, without naming the company. DHCS’s 2023 audits of Kaiser’s Sacramento and San Diego contracts, for November 2022 to October 2023, found these rides delegated to MTM, a transportation broker. Ask the line who operates it today, and ask that company how it adds drivers in your county.

Wheelchair van, gurney van, and ambulance rides

Kaiser calls this lane medical transportation. A treating provider must order it in writing. The 2026 handbook names a doctor, dentist, podiatrist, physical, speech, or occupational therapist, mental health or substance use disorder provider, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or certified nurse midwife. Kaiser’s provider guide also accepts a psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, or marriage and family therapist, and requires a co-sign from one of its listed signers when anyone else starts the order. Kaiser accepts a phone authorization only for an urgent need.

Kaiser’s PCS form offers four modes: wheelchair van, gurney or litter van, basic life support ambulance, and air, which needs Kaiser’s approval first. The order lasts up to one year from the provider’s signature. It must explain what keeps the member off a bus, car, or taxi, and the dates of service can span 12 months at most. Among members who may qualify for a wheelchair van, the form lists dialysis patients, people with paraplegia, members with severe confusion, and members on oxygen who need no monitoring. Both regions use the same form, last changed in August 2024, and it still shows a placeholder where the email address for sending it belongs, so the ordering office should confirm where Kaiser wants it. The Medi-Cal PCS form guide covers what every plan’s form must contain.

Once the order is approved, Kaiser contacts the member. The 2026 handbook says Kaiser calls to schedule, and the provider guide says the member gets a letter explaining how to book. Kaiser’s Southern California home care site gives members 1-833-226-6760 for these rides, the number its PCS form calls the Medical Transportation Hub. For questions about an order, Kaiser lists 1-800-438-7404 in Northern California and 1-877-277-8799 in Southern California.

Who drives Kaiser’s wheelchair and gurney trips

DHCS’s focused audits of Kaiser’s Sacramento and San Diego Medi-Cal contracts, issued August 30, 2024, show how this lane worked from November 2022 to October 2023. Kaiser kept these trips, not the broker:

• A small network. Kaiser had eight NEMT network companies for Northern California and five for Southern California. Two of the five southern contracts covered service outside California.
• Kaiser dispatched. A Regional Medical Transportation Department and its dispatch team broadcast trips to the network and looked for a replacement when a company canceled or did not show, logging the search in Kaiser’s vendor care system.
• Approved suppliers only. Kaiser told DHCS a transportation company must be an approved supplier, and that it would not use one not enrolled in Medi-Cal.
• Door to door. Seven of the eight northern contracts and one southern contract said, “All transports shall be door-to-door service from pickup and drop-off locations.” DHCS found no record of that help on the completed trips it sampled, and told Kaiser to monitor it.
• On-time reports. Kaiser tracked each company’s on-time performance in monthly Vehicle Response Performance reports.
• Gaps. In one San Diego sample, Kaiser could not find bariatric transport: three companies canceled the broadcast trip, a fourth declined it, and the member missed the appointment. DHCS found Kaiser could not add to its broker’s network when that network fell short.

DHCS’s medical audit of the following year, November 2023 to October 2024, which includes Kaiser’s first ten months under the direct contract, was issued April 24, 2025. It checked 30 NEMT claims and 20 NMT claims for timely, correct payment and reported no findings in network and access to care.

The 2023 sample shows what Kaiser’s van network ran short of. If you run bariatric or gurney vans, lead with that when you contact Kaiser, especially in San Diego County, where the missed trip happened. DHCS also told Kaiser to monitor door-to-door help and no-show rates, so keep proof of both on every trip.

How to get Kaiser Medi-Cal trips

1. Enroll in Medi-Cal with DHCS. Kaiser’s provider guide says it runs no plan enrollment unit, so its network companies enroll through the DHCS Provider Enrollment Division, which uses PAVE. The California guide walks through the application.
2. Match your service area to Kaiser’s. Check the ZIP codes in the 2026 handbook, not just the county name, and note which Home Region you would serve.
3. For car and bus rides, find the 844 line’s network. Ask the company that answers 1-844-299-6230 for its provider application.
4. For wheelchair and gurney vans, ask Kaiser’s regional team. Kaiser lists 1-800-438-7404 in Northern California and 1-877-277-8799 in Southern California for NEMT order questions, so ask to be routed to the medical transportation department that contracts with van companies. Say what you run, especially bariatric and gurney capacity, and which hours you cover.
5. Prepare for supplier terms. Kaiser’s supplier site, as of October 2026, lists what its suppliers agree to: purchase terms, minimum insurance, a business associate agreement and Medi-Cal privacy terms for any supplier that handles member information, Kaiser’s background check requirements for suppliers that provide services, a business continuity plan with a 24/7 contact, and electronic invoicing only.
6. Document every trip. Log the door-to-door help, arrival times, and any no-show, since those are the measures DHCS pressed Kaiser to watch.

For how plan contracts work in general, see how to contract with Medicaid health plans. To reach the other Medi-Cal members in Kaiser’s counties, Modivcare in California lists the counties where every plan except Kaiser books its rides through Modivcare.

Long trips and Kaiser Medicare members

For medically necessary care more than 100 miles from home, Kaiser’s provider guide says it can cover travel costs for the member and one helper, with approval. It pays for one room plus tax up to $200 a day, and meals at IRS per diem rates with receipts. Its travel and lodging coordinators are at 510-987-4650 in Northern California and 626-405-6164 in Southern California.

When your rider has both Kaiser Medicare and Kaiser Medi-Cal, the trip runs through the Medi-Cal lanes above. The 2026 Senior Advantage evidence of coverage for both California regions lists every ride but a licensed ambulance as not covered under any condition. Kaiser Medicare transportation covers the regions where Kaiser’s Medicare plans do pay for rides.

Who to call

• Car, taxi, and bus rides: 1-844-299-6230 (TTY 711), Monday to Friday 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., urgent rides 24 hours
• Medical Transportation Hub, for wheelchair and gurney rides: 1-833-226-6760
• NEMT order questions, Northern California: 1-800-438-7404
• NEMT order questions, Southern California: 1-877-277-8799
• Travel and lodging: 510-987-4650 in Northern California, 626-405-6164 in Southern California
• Kaiser Medi-Cal Member Services: 1-855-839-7613 (TTY 711), 24 hours a day, except holidays