UnitedHealthcare Transportation Providers: How Medicare Advantage Rides Reach NEMT Companies

UnitedHealthcare does not keep one ride vendor for its Medicare Advantage plans. It names the vendor plan by plan, on a one-page sheet it gives members each year, so the company booking rides in Miami can differ from the one in Michigan. To get UnitedHealthcare trips, find the vendor on the sheets for the plans sold in your counties and join that vendor’s network.

Which vendor books UnitedHealthcare rides

The 2026 evidence of coverage for plans such as TX-0043 and FL-0028 ends its routine transportation section by pointing to a “Vendor Information Sheet” on the plan’s member website. The sheet is titled “Ready to use your extra benefits?” and lists the routine transportation vendor with its phone number. UnitedHealthcare’s member page on the benefit, as posted in February 2026, says the same thing another way: members call the number on their card or call their transportation vendor directly, and trip requests vary by vendor.

These 2026 sheets name the vendor:

2026 plan	State	Ride vendor on the sheet	Number
UHC MedicareMax Medicare Advantage FL-0028 (HMO), H5420-001	Florida (Miami-Dade)	SafeRide	1-888-462-6043
UHC Preferred Dual Complete FL-Y3 (HMO-POS D-SNP), H1045-065	Florida (Palm Beach)	SafeRide	1-888-462-6043
UHC Complete Care Support ST-1A (PPO C-SNP), H2001-037	Illinois	SafeRide	1-866-244-3123
UHC Dual Complete ME-S2 (PPO D-SNP), H2001-069	Maine	SafeRide	1-866-244-3123
UHC Dual Complete NY-S002 (HMO-POS D-SNP), H3387-014	New York	SafeRide	1-866-244-3123
UHC Dual Complete MI-V001 (HMO-POS D-SNP), H2247-003	Michigan	MTM	1-888-777-4065

SafeRide’s UnitedHealthcare pages

As of September 30, 2026, SafeRide Health has UnitedHealthcare member pages for 36 states, Washington, DC, and UnitedHealthcare Group Retiree. Twenty-five of the state pages share one phone number, 866-244-3123. Florida, Texas, Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana, Kansas, Virginia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Idaho, and Washington, DC each list their own number. The Florida page adds a separate line, 888-462-6043, for Preferred Care Partners, Preferred Care Network, and WellMed members.

UnitedHealthcare sells ride plans in seven states where SafeRide has no UnitedHealthcare page: Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and New Jersey. Michigan’s MI-V001 sheet names MTM Health, and MTM’s member app page lists “UnitedHealthcare Medicaid and Medicare (national).” In the other six, read each plan’s sheet before you apply anywhere.

Florida sources disagree

UnitedHealthcare’s provider administrative guide, effective April 1, 2026, lists ModivCare at 1-888-774-7772 for transportation in its Preferred Care Network and Preferred Care Partners sections. The 2026 member sheets for FL-0028 and FL-Y3 name SafeRide instead, and Modivcare’s Florida facilities page still lists a “UnitedHealthcare Medicare National” line, 1-866-418-9812. Treat the member sheet as the plan’s word to its riders, and ask SafeRide and Modivcare in writing which UnitedHealthcare plans each one books in your counties.

What UnitedHealthcare plans cover in 2026

CMS’s 2026 plan benefit package file lists 828 UnitedHealthcare plan options sold to individuals, leaving out employer plans. Of those, 274 file a supplemental ride benefit. Most of them are special needs plans:

UnitedHealthcare plan type	Plans	With rides
Dual eligible special needs plans	193	163
Institutional special needs plans, for people who need nursing home level care	29	28
Chronic condition special needs plans	94	46
Plans that are not special needs plans	512	37
All UnitedHealthcare plans sold to individuals	828	274

Only 37 of the 512 regular plans carry rides. So most UnitedHealthcare ride plans are built for people with Medicaid, a qualifying chronic condition, or a need for nursing home level care.

Among the 265 ride plans with a yearly limit, the median is 24 one-way trips. The most common limits are 24 (128 plans), 36 (84), 48 (16), 12 (14), and 60 (12). Every ride plan lists van as a mode, and 271 also list car or livery service. None of the 274 marks the benefit as needing authorization.

Texas has the most UnitedHealthcare ride plans (32), then Florida (25), California (24), Georgia (14), Nevada (13), and Washington (12).

Plan documents show how much the same benefit varies:

2026 plan	Area	One-way trips a year	Stretcher
AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC TX-0043 (HMO-POS)	Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Medina, and Wilson counties, Texas	36, up to 50 miles each	Not covered
UHC MedicareMax Medicare Advantage FL-0028 (HMO)	Miami-Dade	60, up to 50 miles each	Available if needed
AARP Medicare Advantage from UHC CA-004P (HMO-POS)	Los Angeles County, California	24, to medical appointments and pharmacies	Not stated in the summary
UHC Dual Complete MI-V001 (HMO-POS D-SNP)	Michigan	24, including gyms and pharmacies	Not stated in the summary

Both evidence of coverage documents say the member pays for any rides past the limit, and that ambulance rides are not part of this benefit.

The booking rules your dispatcher will see

UnitedHealthcare’s member page on the benefit, as posted in February 2026, and the 2026 plan documents set these rules:

• Booking window. Members book at least 2 business days before the appointment and no earlier than 2 weeks before it.
• Short-notice rides. Hospital discharges, chemotherapy, radiation, wound care, dialysis, and urgent care can be booked with less notice. Urgent and same-day requests still need 4 hours.
• Will-call returns. A member can leave the return open. Once the member activates it, the transportation company has up to one hour to arrive. See will-call trips.
• Shared rides. Members may share a trip with other riders.
• Curb to curb. Drivers do not have medical training. They may help with a wheelchair or walker, and members bring their own assistive devices. See curb to curb.
• Companions. One adult, 18 or older, may ride along on each trip.
• Ways to travel. Rideshare for riders who can walk to a car, ambulatory NEMT for riders with a cane or walker, and wheelchair or XL wheelchair NEMT in accessible vans. The general benefit leaves out stretcher trips, mileage reimbursement, mass transit, and air travel, though some plans such as FL-0028 add stretcher trips.
• Distance and destinations. Each trip is capped at 50 or 75 miles one way, depending on the plan. Destinations can include doctors, pharmacies, dental, vision, and hearing visits, and in some plans gyms and grocery stores.

For dialysis riders, the trip limit matters. A three-times-a-week chair schedule needs 312 one-way trips a year, so a 24-trip plan covers about a month of it. See dialysis transportation.

How to get UnitedHealthcare trips

1. List the plans in your counties. Search Medicare Plan Finder by ZIP code and note each UnitedHealthcare plan that lists routine transportation.
2. Read each plan’s vendor sheet. It names the ride vendor and its number. The Preferred Care Network site, for example, posts one sheet per 2026 plan for Miami-Dade and Broward.
3. Apply to SafeRide where the sheet names it. SafeRide wants your NPI and EIN on its form, insurance with SafeRide listed as additional insured, and complete driver and vehicle files, and it holds network providers to on-time, acceptance, and complaint standards. Our SafeRide Health provider guide lists them.
4. Apply to MTM Health where the sheet names MTM, through the application on its service providers page.
5. Offer the vehicles these plans ask for. UnitedHealthcare lists XL wheelchair rides and lift-equipped and bariatric vans. Stretcher work exists only in plans that add it.
6. Ask about next year in October. New benefits and vendor sheets take effect January 1, and UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid plans in Texas and Florida both changed ride vendors in 2026. See when a broker changes.

Group retiree plans

UnitedHealthcare’s employer and retiree plans carry their own ride rules. SafeRide has a separate UnitedHealthcare Group Retiree line, 844-876-6177. The 2026 City of Seattle group plan gives rides only after a hospital or nursing facility stay, through its Healthy at Home program: 12 one-way trips up to 50 miles each, a new referral after each discharge, stretcher trips if needed, and booking at least 2 business days and up to 30 days ahead.

UnitedHealthcare Medicaid and Dual Complete riders

UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid plans pick their own ride vendors state by state. Since January 1, 2026, SafeRide books Texas Medicaid rides, and since March 1, 2026, MTM books Florida Medicaid rides. For Dual Complete members, who have both programs, see UHC Dual Complete transportation and Medicare Advantage transportation.

Who to call

For	Contact
UnitedHealthcare rides through SafeRide, most states	866-244-3123
Preferred Care Partners, Preferred Care Network, and WellMed rides in Florida	SafeRide, 888-462-6043
UnitedHealthcare Group Retiree rides	SafeRide, 844-876-6177
UHC Dual Complete MI-V001 rides in Michigan	MTM, 1-888-777-4065
Transportation companies that want to join SafeRide	team@saferidehealth.com or (855) 955-7433
Transportation companies that want to join MTM Health	The application on MTM’s service providers page