UnitedHealthcare Community Plan NC Transportation: MTM Rides Since January 2026 and How to Get Them

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina is the NC Medicaid Standard Plan run by UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina, Inc., and NC Medicaid’s health plan list, modified August 28, 2026, shows it serving the whole state. In the state’s managed care report for July 2024 through June 2025, it averaged 480,165 members a month, 15.4% of everyone on NC Medicaid. On January 1, 2026 its rides moved from Modivcare to MTM Health, while the number members call stayed the same. How North Carolina’s other plans and its county social services offices handle rides is in the North Carolina guide, and the rest of MTM’s North Carolina work is on MTM Health in North Carolina.

What changed on January 1, 2026

	Through December 31, 2025	From January 1, 2026
Ride broker	Modivcare, since July 1, 2021	MTM Health
Number members call	1-800-349-1855	1-800-349-1855, unchanged
Where ride companies apply	Modivcare’s North Carolina network	MTM’s online application
Stretcher and ambulance trips	Booked through Modivcare	Booked through MTM, with ambulance requests at 1-888-597-1180

UnitedHealthcare’s notice of December 22, 2025 told providers that MTM was already taking bookings for member trips before the switch date. Riders kept the same number, so nothing on their end signals that the broker changed. A van company that drove UnitedHealthcare members for Modivcare stopped getting those trips on January 1, 2026 unless it was also in MTM’s network.

Pages that still name Modivcare

Several official pages had not caught up as of September 30, 2026:

• UnitedHealthcare’s provider transportation page, last updated August 7, 2025, still calls Modivcare the plan’s transportation benefit provider and sends ride companies to ncnetwork@modivcare.com and 855-397-3604.
• NC Medicaid’s quick reference guide for Standard Plans, dated April 2026, lists UnitedHealthcare with the three other Standard Plans under Modivcare.
• NC Medicaid’s county fact sheet from May 2025 pairs UnitedHealthcare with Modivcare at 1-800-349-1855, which was correct when it was written.

The plan’s 2026 care provider manual, posted in September 2026, says non-emergent transportation is covered through MTM Health. Apply to MTM for these riders. A Modivcare agreement still brings AmeriHealth Caritas and Healthy Blue riders, so keep it too.

How UnitedHealthcare members book rides

Members call 1-800-349-1855 (TTY 711), which is UnitedHealthcare’s own Member Services line. The care provider manual lists it as open Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern, and the December 2025 notice says it takes urgent, same-day, and next-day trips 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The notice sets these booking rules:

Trip	When it can be booked
Routine appointment	At least 2 business days ahead
Critical care, urgent trips, and hospital discharges	The same day
Nonemergency ambulance	Up to 60 calendar days ahead
Any other single trip	Up to 30 calendar days ahead
Recurring trips	Can be booked ahead

Whoever books the trip is asked to note anything unusual at the time of the request: children riding along, an extra passenger, oxygen, or other help the member needs. Door-to-door service can also be requested at intake. Check each trip MTM sends you for those notes before you choose the vehicle. See door-to-door service, transporting riders with oxygen, and children in NEMT.

The plan’s HealthTalk newsletter for the second quarter of 2026 tells members there is no limit on the number of rides for covered services in North Carolina and no mileage limit. Out-of-state trips, trips over 75 miles, and trips needing meals and lodging still need prior authorization, so confirm the approval with MTM before a long run. See long distance medical transport.

The pickup times the plan holds you to

UnitedHealthcare’s December 2025 notice sets two pickup times for ride companies. It says a transportation provider should pick up a discharged member within 3 hours, and pick up a will-call return within 1 hour. A discharge can be requested as soon as the discharge time is known, which can mean a same-day trip with the clock already running.

Both promises depend on having a vehicle free when the call comes. Keep a wheelchair van with open time near the hospitals you serve, and log the time you got each discharge request as well as the time you arrived. See hospital discharge transportation and managing will-call trips.

Stretcher and ambulance trips

The care provider manual says members who are bed-confined before, during, and after transport may get nonemergency stretcher or ambulance transportation through MTM Health. A care provider arranging one, such as for a hospital discharge, calls MTM at 1-888-597-1180, where discharge call agents help make sure the trip meets the plan’s guidelines, and MTM then coordinates it with a contracted company. All of these trips are requested through MTM, and all their claims are submitted to MTM. A nonemergency air ambulance needs prior authorization from the plan. See stretcher vans and NEMT vs. ambulance.

Nursing home residents

The manual covers nursing facility trips only when the member is a new admission. A current resident coming back from the emergency department or a doctor’s visit is the facility’s responsibility, and the facility arranges and pays for that ride. So rides for UnitedHealthcare members who already live in a nursing home reach you through the facility, not through MTM. See how to get facility contracts and the facility transportation agreement.

Extra rides and mileage pay

Two more parts of the benefit are in the 2026 care provider manual:

• Job rides for adult TANF members. Adults on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families can get up to 3 round trips or 6 one-way ground trips per calendar year, up to 100 miles one way, to in-state job interviews, certification and licensing, job and career training, backup rides to work, and other job-related activities.
• Mileage pay for family and friends. A qualifying member can have a friend or family member, approved in advance, drive to appointments and be paid for the miles, using the plan’s enrollment forms and trip logs. The plan audits these claims. See mileage reimbursement.

How to get UnitedHealthcare Community Plan trips

You contract with MTM, not with the plan.

1. Register in NCTracks. State policy makes every ride company in a health plan’s network enroll as an NC Medicaid provider. MTM’s application tells North Carolina companies they must be registered with NCTracks to proceed and that applications without it are voided. The fee and site visit are in the North Carolina guide.
2. Send MTM’s Letter of Intent. The online form linked from mtm-inc.net/driverswanted asks for your primary state, EIN, NPI, Medicaid ID, the counties you serve on a regular basis, your business start date, and your counts of ambulatory, wheelchair, basic or advanced life support, and stretcher vehicles. It also asks for your insurance carrier, general liability aggregate, auto combined single limit, and workers’ compensation.
3. Finish MTM’s checkpoints. An interview, a contract, credentialing, training, and a first trip follow. MTM requires fraud, waste, and abuse training and HIPAA training for every employee each year, and its system stops assigning trips to a company whose credentials lapse. See broker credentialing.
4. Keep your Modivcare agreement. State policy bars plans and brokers from exclusive or non-compete contracts, so one company can carry riders for all four Standard Plans. See working with multiple brokers.

North Carolina’s insurance limits and driver rules for MTM’s network are on MTM Health in North Carolina. One more state rule affects short-notice work: a Standard Plan may send a trip requested less than two days ahead to a rideshare company first, so a same-day trip can go to a rideshare car before it reaches you.

Pay, claims, and the Modivcare years

MTM pays you the rate in your agreement. NC Medicaid’s October 30, 2025 rate bulletin lists health plan NEMT among services without a state fee schedule, so the price is set in your MTM agreement rather than in a state fee schedule. NC Medicaid planned a 3% cut to health plan NEMT pay from October 1, 2025 and announced its reversal on December 10, 2025. UnitedHealthcare trips in those months were Modivcare trips, so ask Modivcare about any correction. See North Carolina reverses its NEMT rate cut.

The state’s managed care reports cover the plan’s last full years with Modivcare:

Measure	July 2023 to June 2024	July 2024 to June 2025
Members a month, on average	420,822	480,165
NEMT grievances resolved	429	837
NEMT appeals resolved	0	0

On January 31, 2024, NC Medicaid also put UnitedHealthcare on a corrective action plan for missing its contract’s automated claims processing rules for NEMT, especially the effect on nonemergency ambulance companies. The fix was still in progress when that report’s year closed on June 30, 2024. All of those numbers describe the Modivcare network, before MTM took over. A member grievance is a complaint such as a late or missed ride.

Who to call

For	Contact
Member ride bookings and urgent trips	1-800-349-1855 (TTY 711)
Nonemergency ambulance trips, such as discharges	MTM Health, 1-888-597-1180
Joining MTM’s network	The Letter of Intent at mtm-inc.net/driverswanted
UnitedHealthcare Provider Services	1-800-638-3302
NCTracks enrollment	1-800-688-6696

What to do first

1. Confirm your NCTracks registration is active, because MTM’s form asks and voids North Carolina applications without it.
2. Apply to MTM and list every county and vehicle type you run, stretcher vans included.
3. Give facilities the right numbers. Member rides are booked at 1-800-349-1855, and nonemergency ambulance trips through MTM at 1-888-597-1180, not through the Modivcare health care provider line, 855-397-3606, that NC Medicaid’s April 2026 quick reference still lists.
4. Plan for the two clocks: 3 hours for a discharge and 1 hour for a will-call return.
5. Offer nursing homes a direct agreement for residents’ rides, which the plan leaves to the facility.