Alaska Lets Tribal Travel Offices Bill Medicaid for Taxis, Wheelchair Vans, and Rideshare

Alaska’s tribal health organizations can now bill Medicaid for more of the travel they arrange for their patients. CMS approved Alaska state plan amendment 25-0009 on December 18, 2025, effective July 1, 2025. It lets tribal health organizations that manage travel bill for taxis, wheelchair vans, transportation network companies such as rideshare, lodging, and meals.

What the amendment says

The Alaska Department of Health submitted the change on September 29, 2025. CMS reviewed it under 42 CFR 440.170, the federal rule on Medicaid transportation. The transmittal form lists no federal budget impact for federal fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

The core is one paragraph in the state plan’s transportation section. It says transportation arranged by “a government entity other than the state” does not have to be bought through the state’s broker contract, and it lists what that covers:

Item	What the approved pages say
Vehicles	Taxis, wheelchair vans, transportation network companies, and buses
Other travel	Air and ferry
Travel costs	Transportation related expenses, including meals and lodging
Who arranges	The state or other governmental entities, as administrative case management of transportation
The broker	Not a government entity and does not give rides itself. The state uses it for air and ferry travel, and the broker section also lists transportation network companies
How the broker is paid	It pays each provider directly, claims Medicaid, and earns a brokerage fee

The transmittal form sums it up: the amendment expands the services that can be billed through tribal health organizations managing transportation to include taxis, wheelchair vans, transportation network companies, lodging, and meals. The same pages add one more line. Mileage paid to a member under EPSDT, the children’s screening and treatment benefit, is claimed as an administrative expense.

How Medicaid travel works in Alaska

Alaska does not use a broker for ground rides. Every trip is approved in advance by one of the department’s travel arrangers, and the member’s enrolled health care provider asks for it. Members cannot request travel themselves. See prior authorization for how approvals work.

Travel arranger	Who it serves
HMS, the Medicaid fiscal agent	All Alaska Medicaid members, by fax or, for urgent travel, by phone
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC)	Its affiliated patients
Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC)	Its affiliated patients
Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC)	Its affiliated patients

The state’s April 27, 2025 guide says these Tribal Travel Management Offices authorize, book, and manage Medicaid travel for their patients and run their own request process. An Alaska Native or American Indian member may be approved to travel to the nearest tribal health facility even when another provider is closer. Flights and ferries approved through HMS are booked through the Medicaid Travel Office.

For enrollment, permits, and insurance, see our Alaska state guide.

What it means for taxi and wheelchair van companies

Tribal travel offices already arrange ground travel around care. At ANTHC’s lodging in Anchorage, patient experience staff help arriving patients with meal cards and taxi vouchers. With this amendment, the state plan names taxis, wheelchair vans, and rideshare among the rides those offices may arrange outside the broker contract, along with the rooms and meals around a trip.

The Alaska Medicaid fee schedule for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 sets the most it pays for each service:

Service	Code	Most Medicaid pays
Taxi	A0100	Your billed charge, never more than you charge other passengers
Wheelchair van, urban pickup	A0130	$35.00
Wheelchair van, rural pickup	A0130 TN	$35.00 plus $0.69 a mile
Lodging, member or escort	A0180, A0200	$110
Meals, member or escort	A0190, A0210	Actual food bought, up to $36

Every service in this table needs a service authorization. The schedule marks the rural wheelchair van code as needing a medical reason, and HMS sends wheelchair van requests for a closer review. An escort riding in a taxi bills with the TK modifier, and the combined charge for a member and escort riding together cannot be more than the trip’s total fare. For a taxi claim over $89, send a copy of the travel voucher and the taxi charge slip with the claim.

The amendment names rideshare companies alongside taxis and wheelchair vans. For how rideshare and NEMT companies differ, see NEMT vs rideshare.

What Alaska ride companies should do now

1. Enroll with Alaska Medicaid first. Medicaid pays only enrolled providers. The state’s list of enrolled transportation providers, dated May 6, 2026, shows who already serves each town.
2. Call each tribal travel office you can serve. Ask how it books ground rides for its patients, whether it uses Medicaid travel vouchers or its own process, and what it needs from you.
3. Keep the paperwork tied to the trip. Keep each service authorization number, voucher, and charge slip with the trip record. The fee schedule requires an authorization for every service, and a taxi claim over $89 needs the voucher and slip attached.
4. Bill at your public fare. A taxi charge to Medicaid can never be higher than what you charge any other rider.
5. Tell offices what you run. Wheelchair van requests get a closer review, so let the travel offices and clinics you work with know your equipment and service hours.

For serving tribal patients more broadly, see tribal NEMT, and for long rural trips, rural NEMT.

Who to contact

Alaska Medicaid lists these numbers as of September 2026.

Office	Phone
ANTHC Travel Management Office	(907) 729-7720 or (866) 824-8140, option 1
Tanana Chiefs Conference patient travel	(907) 451-6682, extension 3711, or (844) 747-0808
Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation travel	(907) 543-6625 or (855) 543-6625
HMS travel authorization	(907) 644-6800 or (800) 770-5650, option 1 then 5
Medicaid Travel Office, flights and ferries	(800) 514-7123