# Medica Transportation in Minnesota: Provide-A-Ride After the UCare Move

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/health-plans/medica-minnesota/ · Updated 2026-10-02

Medica transportation for Minnesota Medicaid members runs through Provide-A-Ride. Members call Medica at least five days before a covered visit, and Medica books the ride with a transportation company. Rides for members who cannot use a bus, taxi, or car need an approved Certification of Need first. Former UCare members became Medica One Health Plan members on October 1, 2026, so their rides follow Medica's rules.

- Medica Member Services books Minnesota Medicaid rides through Provide-A-Ride, and members must call at least five days ahead.
- Every special transportation ride needs an approved Certification of Need before it runs, or Medica does not pay for it.
- Former UCare members became Medica One Health Plan members on October 1, 2026, and their rides from that day bill to payer ID 71890.
- A UCare contract does not carry over: companies credentialed only by UCare need a Medica contract to keep these riders.
- Medica lists special transportation as a closed specialty in Minnesota, so an application puts you on file rather than in the network.

## Medica (Minnesota Medicaid) rides at a glance

| Fact | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Plans | Medica One Health Plan (the PMAP, MinnesotaCare, SNBC, and MSC+ members who moved from UCare on October 1, 2026), Medica Choice Care (PMAP and MSC+), Medica MinnesotaCare, Medica AccessAbility Solution (SNBC), and Medica DUAL Solution (MSHO) |
| Who books rides | Medica Member Services, through its Provide-A-Ride program. Members call the line on their ID card at least five days before the appointment |
| Former UCare members' ride line | Medica One Health Plan Member Services, 1-833-849-6951 (TTY 711), weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central (handbooks dated October 1, 2026) |
| Pickups | Only from home, school, work, or a shelter, at least 45 minutes before the appointment. The driver waits 5 minutes |
| Special transportation | Needs an approved Certification of Need from the member's doctor or another listed professional, good for up to one year. Trips to or from a skilled nursing facility are exempt |
| Distance limits | Medica need not provide a ride over 30 miles to primary care or over 60 miles to a specialist the member chooses |
| Billing | Payer ID 71890 for Medica One Health Plan rides from October 1, 2026, replacing UCare's 55413. File within 180 days of the ride |
| How to join | Medica's NEMT application, with its Request for Information, a DHS NETStudy 2.0 background study, and your MnDOT certificate of compliance |
| Network status | Medica lists special transportation as closed to new applicants across Minnesota (list revised November 2021). An application keeps you on file for when a need arises |
| Provider Service Center | 1-800-458-5512, weekdays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central, closed Mondays 8 to 9 a.m. |

Medica runs several Minnesota Medical Assistance (Medicaid) and MinnesotaCare plans, and on October 1, 2026 it took over UCare's Medicaid members, who now carry Medica One Health Plan cards. Minnesota has no single broker, and each health plan arranges its own members' rides, as the [Minnesota guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/minnesota/) explains. This page covers how Medica does it and what changed for companies that drove UCare trips.

## How Medica books rides

Medica's ride program is called Provide-A-Ride. It serves Medical Assistance members, and pregnant people and children in MinnesotaCare, who have no other way to reach a covered visit (program page, last updated November 2025). The member calls the Member Services line on the back of the ID card at least five days before the appointment, and Medica schedules the trip with a transportation company.

### Which line books the ride

Each Medica plan has its own Member Services line, and that line books rides. As of October 2026:

| Plan | Ride line | Hours (Central) |
|---|---|---|
| Medica One Health Plan (former UCare PMAP, MinnesotaCare, SNBC, MSC+) | 1-833-849-6951 | Weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Medica Choice Care PMAP and Medica MinnesotaCare | 1-800-373-8335 | Weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Medica AccessAbility Solution (SNBC) and Medica Choice Care MSC+ | 1-877-379-7540 | Weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Medica DUAL Solution (MSHO) | 1-888-347-3630 | Daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. from October to March, weekdays from April to September |

The Provide-A-Ride page prints 1-888-347-3630 beside Medica One Health Plans, but that is the DUAL Solution line. The Medica One Health Plan handbooks dated October 1, 2026 give 1-833-849-6951 for transportation, so hand former UCare riders that number.

### The rules your drivers will meet

Medica's member rules set the shape of each trip:

- Pickups happen only at the member's home, school, work, or a shelter.
- The pickup is at least 45 minutes before the appointment.
- The driver waits 5 minutes at the pickup and 5 minutes at the return pickup.
- The driver hands the rider a return slip with the number to call when the visit ends. Medica tells members a return can take 60 minutes or longer.
- When Member Services is closed, Medica tells members to cancel by calling the transportation company, so someone has to answer your phone.

Medica can refuse a ride booked with less than five days' notice, a ride for a member with a working vehicle, or a trip past the state's distance limits of 30 miles to primary care and 60 miles to a specialist. Urgent care and emergency room rides need a check with Medica's nurse line first.

### What the ride benefit covers

The October 1, 2026 Medica One Health Plan handbooks list ambulance, volunteer driver, unassisted (taxi or public transit), assisted, lift-equipped or ramp, [protected](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/protected-transport/), and stretcher transport, and mark transportation as a service that needs [prior authorization](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/prior-authorization/). Mileage reimbursement, meals, lodging, and parking are not plan benefits; members ask their county or Tribal agency for those. MinnesotaCare members get rides only in the child (under 19) benefit set or while pregnant.

Members with an Elderly Waiver in Medica DUAL Solution or either MSC+ plan also get rides to places approved under the waiver. In March 2026, Medica told providers it had temporarily widened Provide-A-Ride to cover grocery stores and food pantries during the safety concerns in Minneapolis.

## The Certification of Need for special transportation

Medica's administrative manual (revised February 2023) defines special transportation as a non-emergency ride for a member whose physical or mental impairment keeps them from reaching or safely using a common carrier, such as a bus, taxi, or private car, and who does not need an ambulance. Medica pays for none of it without an approved Certification of Need.

1. **Who files it.** The professional directing the member's care: a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, advanced practice registered nurse, clinical nurse specialist, nurse midwife, LICSW, marriage and family therapist, professional clinical counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or another professional on Medica's list. Care coordinators working for Medica cannot.
2. **How.** Online, through Medica's form. Since June 1, 2018, Medica takes no other kind of submission.
3. **How long it lasts.** An approved form is good for up to one year.
4. **Who is exempt.** Trips that begin or end at a skilled nursing facility, including hospital discharges to one. Assisted living residents still need a form.

Before you take a standing order for a wheelchair or stretcher rider, ask whether the form is approved and when it runs out. Medica's timely filing policy says a claim denied for missing prior authorization cannot be appealed, so a lapsed form costs you the trip. The UCare move left this in place: Medica's migration page says an approved Certificate of Need is still required for former UCare members.

## What changed for UCare members on October 1, 2026

Medica announced its agreement to buy certain UCare contracts and assets on November 17, 2025. On December 17, 2025, a Ramsey County District Court judge placed UCare in rehabilitation on the petition of the Minnesota Commissioner of Health. From January 1, 2026, Medica funded payments for UCare members' care while UCare's contracts, rates, and policies stayed in force. On October 1, 2026, UCare's PMAP, MinnesotaCare, SNBC (UCare Connect), and MSC+ members moved to Medica One Health Plan, and UCare's old Health Ride page now leads to its transition page, which says those plans have fully moved.

For a transportation company, five things changed that day:

- **Payer ID.** Bill rides on or after October 1, 2026 to Medica's payer ID 71890, not UCare's 55413.
- **Policies.** Medica's policies apply. Authorizations approved under UCare carry over, but a service that needs authorization under Medica and did not under UCare must be requested before the ride.
- **ID cards.** Members were to get new Medica ID cards in September 2026, and Medica asks providers to check the new card at or after the member's first October visit.
- **Eligibility.** Check it in Medica's provider portal, in MN-ITS, or at the Provider Service Center, 1-800-458-5512.
- **Contracts.** A UCare contract does not carry over by itself. Companies credentialed by UCare but not by Medica must be contracted and credentialed by Medica to keep these members, and Medica says it will contact them.

The Medica One Health Plan PMAP and MinnesotaCare handbooks list 33 counties, from Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Scott, and Washington in the metro to Olmsted, Winona, Blue Earth, Carlton, and Cook. Ramsey is not among them. The SNBC and MSC+ handbooks list larger areas that include Ramsey and St. Louis counties. UCare's dual eligible members did not move: Medica's hub says regulatory limits and mismatched service areas kept that transfer from going ahead, and those UCare plans ended January 1, 2026.

### Money UCare still owes you for 2025

Rides on or before December 31, 2025 fall under the rehabilitation plan the court approved on April 10, 2026:

- Claims where UCare was the primary payer were due June 30, 2026. Claims filed after that are held until a court orders UCare into formal liquidation, and the liquidator decides them then.
- Payments go out in the order UCare processed the claims. The rehabilitator was cleared to release an initial $350 million, and on June 25, 2026 it said another $200 million would follow from mid-July. Its FAQ, updated June 2026, says not every claim will be paid before 2027.
- For claims released in 2026, you have three months after the payment notice to appeal, and three months to dispute a recoupment on UCare's dispute form. See [appealing a denied claim](https://nemtguide.com/guides/appeal-denied-nemt-claim/).
- The court order bars every provider, contracted or not, from collecting from UCare members for services UCare must cover.

Rides from January 1 to September 30, 2026 are outside the plan and paid in the ordinary course. The [broker transition guide](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-broker-transition/) covers how to keep cash moving while a payer changes.

## How to join Medica's transportation network

Medica asks for your MnDOT special transportation certificate, and state law requires every plan network provider to be enrolled with Minnesota Health Care Programs; the [Minnesota guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/minnesota/) covers both. The same law lets a health plan contract with a company for up to 120 days while its state enrollment is pending, then makes the plan end the contract if DHS cannot enroll the company or the 120 days run out first (Minnesota Statutes 256B.69, subdivision 37). That matters in the metro: DHS is not enrolling new NEMT companies located in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, or Washington County until January 27, 2027 (the [metro freeze](https://nemtguide.com/news/minnesota-metro-nemt-enrollment-freeze/)), and Medica One Health Plan serves all seven through SNBC and MSC+, and all but Ramsey through PMAP and MinnesotaCare.

1. **Check the closed list.** Medica's closed specialties list (revised November 2021, as posted in October 2026) marks special transportation closed in the Twin Cities metro and in the rest of Minnesota. Medica is not adding providers in closed specialties, but it says an application lets it contact you when a need arises, and you can resubmit when your services or area change.
2. **Fill in the NEMT Request for Information.** It asks about dispatch hours, how your drivers are employed and the name of every subcontractor, your fleet, wait time, cancellation policy, same-day and door-through-door service, wheelchair lift and stretcher limits, and oxygen and bariatric riders. Two answers are requirements: vehicles that carry Medica members must be non-smoking, and Medica requires car seats wherever state and federal law call for them.
3. **Gather the uploads.** Proof of professional liability insurance, a W-9, a description of your services on letterhead, a completed sample claim, Medica's Disclosure of Ownership form, its fraud, waste, and abuse training form, the Request for Information, a DHS NETStudy 2.0 background study, and your MnDOT certificate of compliance.
4. **Submit in one sitting.** Start from the NEMT link on Medica's Join Our Provider Network page. The intake runs eight screens and cannot be saved. Questions about the questionnaire go to ProviderOversight@medica.com.
5. **If you drove for UCare,** email ProviderNetworkQuestions@medica.com to confirm whether Medica has your contract in progress.

### What a Medica special transportation contract asks

Medica's special transportation protocols (revised August 2021) ask you to get prior authorization where Medica requires it, run background checks on every driver and employee before hire and every year after, and keep proof of auto or umbrella liability in each vehicle's file. Each vehicle must pass inspection and display a valid MnDOT decal. When you cannot respond to a ride request within the time Medica sets, you send the caller back to Medica, which refers the trip to a company that can respond sooner. Medica gives 45 days' notice before it adopts new protocols. Its Minnesota provider requirements (July 2025) require every provider to carry professional liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 aggregate. For how plan credentialing works in general, see [contracting with Medicaid health plans](https://nemtguide.com/guides/contract-with-medicaid-health-plans/).

## How Medica pays

Your rate is set in your Medica contract. State law requires health plans to pay a fuel adjustment on NEMT rates when fuel costs more than $3 a gallon, while federal approval for that rule holds, and requires your contract to let the plan take that money back if the state cuts plan rates because federal approval is missing (256B.0625, subdivision 18h). A 2026 law keeps that rule until the statewide administrator starts, so ask how your contract figures it.

Medica's [timely filing](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/timely-filing-limit/) policy (revised November 2024) gives you 180 days from the ride to file, 12 months from the remittance processing date to request an adjustment, and 12 months from the check date to appeal. Medica's May 2026 newsletter warned that NEMT companies missing DHS's May 31, 2026 [revalidation](https://nemtguide.com/guides/medicaid-revalidation/) deadline would be terminated from Minnesota Health Care Programs, and that a terminated company can no longer be paid for or serve Medica Medicaid or MSHO members.

State law also calls for one statewide or regional NEMT administrator that would handle health plan members' rides too. A law signed May 27, 2026 makes DHS give counties and health plans six months' notice before it starts, so watch for that notice ([the delay](https://nemtguide.com/news/minnesota-nemt-administrator-delay/)).

## What to do this month

1. **Confirm your Medica contract** before you accept any former UCare rider for a trip dated October 1, 2026 or later.
2. **Switch billing** to payer ID 71890 for those rides, and file within 180 days.
3. **Collect what UCare owes** for 2025 trips: read each payment notice and appeal or dispute within three months.
4. **Check every Certification of Need** for your wheelchair and stretcher riders, and note when each one expires.
5. **Apply to Medica** if you are not in its network yet, so it can call you when it needs more vans in your area.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the Medica transportation phone number?

It depends on the plan on the member's ID card. As of October 2026, Medica One Health Plan members, the former UCare members, call 1-833-849-6951 (TTY 711), weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Medica Choice Care PMAP and Medica MinnesotaCare use 1-800-373-8335, Medica AccessAbility Solution and Medica Choice Care MSC+ use 1-877-379-7540, and Medica DUAL Solution uses 1-888-347-3630. Transportation companies and clinics call the Provider Service Center at 1-800-458-5512.

### What is Medica Provide-A-Ride?

It is Medica's ride program for Minnesota Health Care Programs members: Medical Assistance members, and pregnant people and children in MinnesotaCare, who have no other way to reach a covered visit. It covers medical, dental, mental health, substance use, pharmacy, and medical equipment visits, plus urgent care and emergency room visits confirmed with Medica's nurse line. Members call at least five days ahead, and the driver waits 5 minutes at each pickup.

### I drove UCare Health Ride trips. Can I keep driving these members?

Only with a Medica contract. Medica's transition page says companies credentialed by UCare but not by Medica must be contracted and credentialed by Medica to keep serving former UCare members, that Medica will reach out with contract information, and that UCare is not accepting new contracts. If you have not heard from Medica, email ProviderNetworkQuestions@medica.com before you accept another trip for these riders.

### Does Medica need a Certification of Need for wheelchair rides?

Yes, for any special transportation: a ride for a member whose physical or mental impairment prevents safe use of a bus, taxi, or car. The member's doctor, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or another listed professional files the form online, and an approved form lasts up to one year. Medica care coordinators cannot file it. Trips that start or end at a skilled nursing facility are exempt, but assisted living residents still need one.

### How do I become a Medica transportation provider in Minnesota?

Hold a MnDOT special transportation certificate and enroll with Minnesota Health Care Programs; a plan may contract with you for only 120 days while that enrollment is pending. Then start the NEMT application on Medica's Join Our Provider Network page. Have every upload ready, because the eight-screen form cannot be saved: the NEMT Request for Information, a DHS NETStudy 2.0 background study, your MnDOT certificate, proof of professional liability insurance, a W-9, a sample claim, and Medica's ownership disclosure and fraud training forms.

### Who pays UCare transportation claims from 2025?

UCare's rehabilitator, not Medica. A Ramsey County judge placed UCare in rehabilitation on December 17, 2025. Claims for rides on or before December 31, 2025 were due by June 30, 2026, and claims filed later are held until a court orders UCare into formal liquidation. Payments go out in the order UCare processed the claims, and you cannot bill riders for these trips. Rides from January 1, 2026 on are paid in the ordinary course.

### Will Minnesota's single NEMT administrator replace Provide-A-Ride?

Not yet. State law tells DHS to contract a statewide or regional NEMT administrator that would also handle health plan members' rides. A law signed May 27, 2026 requires DHS to give counties and health plans six months of notice before that administrator starts, and Medica keeps arranging its members' rides until then.

## Official resources

- [Medica: Provide-A-Ride](https://www.medica.com/find-care/select-your-medicaid-plan/resources/provide-a-ride)
- [Medica: UCare hub for providers](https://partner.medica.com/providers/ucare-member-transition)
- [Medica: Special Transportation and the Certification of Need](https://partner.medica.com/providers/medica-administrative-manual/supplementary-contracting-and-regulatory-requirements/special-transportation)
- [Medica: Join Our Provider Network](https://partner.medica.com/providers/join-our-provider-network)
- [Medica: NEMT Request for Information questionnaire](https://partner.medica.com/~/media/documents/provider/claim%20tools/special%20transportation%20request%20for%20information%20questionnaire%20transportation%20providers.pdf)
- [Medica One Health Plan PMAP Member Handbook (October 1, 2026)](https://www.medica.com/-/media/Documents/Medicaid/2026/MCD61074_101026A_2026_M1HP_PMAP_FC_HB_FINAL_V4_Web_508_AAA.pdf)
- [UCare Minnesota in receivership: provider claims and appeals](https://ucare-inreceivership.com/)