UHC VA Medicaid Transportation: SafeRide Rules for UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Virginia

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Virginia is the Cardinal Care health plan that UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic, Inc. runs under contract with the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS). DMAS’s plan financial results show it averaged about 225,000 members a month from July 2025 through March 2026, fourth of the five plans and ahead of Humana. Since March 1, 2026, every one of its Medicaid rides goes through SafeRide Health.

DMAS pays each plan a set amount per member each month, and each plan hires its own ride broker. The DMV certificate and state rules come first and are in the Virginia guide. SafeRide’s network standards everywhere it works are in the SafeRide Health guide.

Who books UnitedHealthcare Virginia Medicaid rides

UnitedHealthcare’s provider flyer PCA-1-25-02799, dated December 24, 2025, says SafeRide manages all nonemergency medical transportation for the plan from March 1, 2026, for every one of its Virginia Cardinal Care enrollees. Members, facilities, and doctors’ offices all call SafeRide at 1-888-462-6049 or use SafeRide’s portal, and SafeRide routes the call. For urgent, same-day, and next-day trips, the line answers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

UnitedHealthcare’s 2026 Virginia provider manual lists that number for reservations and again for ride status and will-call returns. It adds weekday scheduling hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern, online booking at uhc.member.saferidehealth.com, and booking up to 30 days ahead.

Before the switch, Modivcare held this work. DMAS’s provider enrollment sheet of July 1, 2025 names Modivcare as UnitedHealthcare’s broker. DMAS’s statewide contact sheet, last updated October 17, 2025, still shows the older lines, 833-215-3884 for reservations and 833-215-3885 for ride assist, so point riders to 1-888-462-6049.

SafeRide keeps the work after the fee-for-service change. DMAS’s bulletin effective September 15, 2026 moves members outside a health plan to MTM Health, with trips from October 1, 2026, and says UnitedHealthcare members who use SafeRide keep using SafeRide. Rides to developmental disability waiver services are carved out. DMAS’s contact sheet sends Community Living, Building Independence, and Family and Individual Support waiver trips to the fee-for-service line, 1-866-386-8331, while these members’ medical rides stay with the plan. See MTM Health in Virginia.

The booking rules behind each UnitedHealthcare trip

UnitedHealthcare’s flyer, its 2026 provider manual, and SafeRide’s Virginia member page set these rules:

Rule	What it means for your company
Routine trips book at least 5 business days ahead	Routine UnitedHealthcare trips land on your schedule about a week out
Long-distance trips also book at least 5 business days ahead	An out-of-town run gets the same week of lead time
Rides can be booked up to 30 days ahead	Recurring visits can be loaded a month at a time
Urgent, same-day, and next-day trips are taken 24/7	Short-notice UnitedHealthcare requests can arrive at any hour. See same-day NEMT trips.
Dialysis centers confirm the member’s chair time with SafeRide when they book	Your pickup is built on the chair time SafeRide records, so a changed chair time belongs with SafeRide first. See dialysis transportation.
Members 15 to 17 may ride without an escort only with a signed Minor Consent Form	Check for the form or an adult before a teen boards. See children in NEMT.
Rides may go by taxi, van, sedan, wheelchair vehicle, stretcher van, nonemergency ambulance, mass transit, or a transportation network company	Not every UnitedHealthcare trip goes to a NEMT company, since SafeRide can send a rider by bus or rideshare instead. See transportation network company.

Five business days next to the other plans

UnitedHealthcare’s five-day rule matches Sentara and fee-for-service, and asks for more notice than Aetna or Anthem. It also differs from the same company’s Texas plan, where SafeRide books UnitedHealthcare riders on two days:

Plan	Routine trips book at least
UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Virginia	5 business days, and 5 for long-distance trips
Sentara Community Plan	5 business days
Aetna Better Health of Virginia	3 business days
Anthem HealthKeepers Plus	2 business days
UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas	2 business days, and 5 for long-distance trips (notice of November 21, 2025)

If you drive for more than one Virginia plan, keep the notice rule on each rider’s file, because a trip booked on three days’ notice fits Aetna’s rule but not UnitedHealthcare’s. See advance notice.

Social trips and mileage reimbursement

UnitedHealthcare’s 2026 Virginia provider manual lists an added benefit it calls social trips: up to 6 trips every 6 months to places Medicaid does not otherwise cover, including round trips to places of worship, gyms, the Department of Motor Vehicles, grocery stores, and Medicaid eligibility offices. Rides to food banks, farmers markets, and WIC appointments have no cap. Aetna, by contrast, counts food bank trips inside its 15 round trips a year.

Mileage reimbursement is for Medicaid members only. SafeRide’s UnitedHealthcare Virginia pages, as of September 2026, set the order:

1. Register the driver. The member or a family member can drive. Anyone else must pass a criminal history check. The driver sends a license, an insurance card that lists them, and the car’s registration, and SafeRide approves online signups in about 72 hours.
2. Book the ride with SafeRide before the trip, even though the member drives.
3. Get each visit signed. The health care provider signs each appointment on the claim form.
4. Send the claim by email or mail within 90 days of the trip. SafeRide pays within 30 days of receiving it, by electronic payment or check.

A mileage trip is one SafeRide does not send to a transportation company. See mileage reimbursement.

How your company gets UnitedHealthcare trips

UnitedHealthcare does not contract transportation companies for these rides. DMAS’s enrollment sheet says each plan’s broker enrolls companies, inspects vehicles, negotiates contracts and rates, assigns trips, and pays. Since March 1, 2026, that broker is SafeRide, so a Modivcare contract no longer brings UnitedHealthcare trips. For how to keep work through a switch like this, see when your state changes NEMT brokers.

1. Get your DMV authority. DMV’s non-emergency medical transportation carrier certificate, applied for on form OA 151, covers only Medicaid trips, including those arranged by a health plan’s contractor, which is SafeRide’s role here. It takes a $50 filing fee and a $25,000 bond. The Virginia guide covers plates and renewals.
2. Fill out SafeRide’s signup form on its NEMT provider page. Use a real NPI and your EIN, list your liability limits and every Virginia county you serve, and finish within 30 days or start over.
3. Insure to the higher limit. SafeRide asks for $1 million general liability per occurrence, $2 million aggregate, and $500,000 auto liability, with SafeRide as additional insured, as of September 2026. DMV’s auto floor is $350,000 for a vehicle seating 1 to 6 but $1,500,000 for 7 to 15, both counting the driver, so a larger van needs more than SafeRide’s minimum.
4. Credential every driver and vehicle. SafeRide checks national background and sex offender registries, a motor vehicle report, and a pre-hire drug screen for each driver, plus first aid, CPR, or AED, defensive driving, and wheelchair securement training. Each vehicle needs current registration and insurance.
5. Plan for its scorecard. SafeRide expects 95 percent on-time and 95 percent acceptance, among other rates, to stay in the network. The SafeRide Health guide lists them.

What UnitedHealthcare spends on rides

In DMAS’s fiscal 2026 plan results, UnitedHealthcare reported $32.4 million in nonemergency transportation costs from July 2025 through March 2026, plus $6.9 million to administer the NEMT benefit. That was about 15 percent of the $215.9 million the five plans reported, fourth behind Anthem, Sentara, and Aetna. Only the last month of that span, March 2026, ran under SafeRide. For how plans pass this money to brokers, see contracting with Medicaid health plans.

Who to call

For	Contact
UnitedHealthcare member rides, facilities, and doctors’ offices (SafeRide)	1-888-462-6049 (TTY 711)
Ride status and will-call returns	1-888-462-6049
Member online booking	uhc.member.saferidehealth.com
Joining SafeRide’s network	team@saferidehealth.com or 855-955-7433
Mileage reimbursement driver signup	uhc_driver@saferidehealth.com
UnitedHealthcare Member Services	1-844-752-9434
Developmental disability waiver rides	1-866-386-8331, the fee-for-service line

What to do first

1. Call SafeRide at 855-955-7433 and ask which Virginia counties and levels of service need more providers for UnitedHealthcare riders.
2. Send the signup form with your DMV certificate, NPI, EIN, and insurance certificates ready.
3. Check with the dialysis centers you serve that they book UnitedHealthcare chair times with SafeRide at 1-888-462-6049, not the older numbers on DMAS’s contact sheet.
4. Mark each rider’s plan. UnitedHealthcare trips need five business days, Aetna’s three, Anthem’s two, and waiver rides go to the fee-for-service line.