Colorado NEMT Brokers Must Report Provider Rides and Grievances by Dec. 1, 2026

Colorado’s NEMT broker must send the state a yearly report on every transportation provider it contracts with, starting December 1, 2026. The rule comes from House Bill 26-1235, which Governor Jared Polis signed on June 3, 2026. It took effect August 12, 2026 as Session Laws Chapter 361 and adds a new section, C.R.S. 25.5-1-803, to Colorado’s law on Medicaid rides for Health First Colorado (Colorado Medicaid) members.

What the broker must report

By December 1, 2026, and by every December 1 after that, each transportation broker reports to the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF). For each provider it contracts with, the report lists:

• Rides requested. The total number of rides requested.
• Rides completed. The total number of rides completed.
• Cancellations. The total number of rides canceled by members and by the provider.
• Cost. The total cost of completed rides, grouped by procedure code, the billing code on each claim.
• Calls and hold time. The total number of calls from members asking for a ride, and the average time a member spent on hold.

The report also covers two more counts:

• Substantiated grievances. The number of member grievances about a provider that were substantiated, and which provider each one concerns.
• Network actions. The total number of providers terminated from the broker’s network, placed on a corrective action plan, or placed on a performance improvement plan.

Starting January 1, 2027, HCPF must include the information the brokers submit in its yearly SMART Act presentation to the legislature, required by C.R.S. 2-7-203. The law does not say which months each report covers.

Who it affects

The law defines a transportation broker as the entity HCPF contracts with to administer NEMT for Medicaid members. A transportation provider is any person or organization, including a business, nonprofit, or public entity, that gives rides to Medicaid members or arranges them. Brokers and rideshare companies are not providers. Those definitions are in C.R.S. 25.5-1-801, as amended this year by HB26-1328.

Colorado’s broker is MediDrive. It has coordinated rides in the nine-county Denver metro area since July 1, 2026, and it takes over the rest of the state on January 1, 2027. The first report is due a month before that date. Once MediDrive coordinates rides statewide, every provider in its network across Colorado falls under the yearly report.

The law sets no fee or penalty for providers. The final fiscal note, dated July 13, 2026, says the bill needs no new money and that HCPF’s added work fits within its current budget.

The rest of HB26-1235 covers other Medicaid topics. One of them requires Colorado’s Medical Services Board to adopt rules by January 1, 2027 for the federal community engagement requirements. See the federal work requirement rule for what that means for riders.

What providers should do now

1. Record every cancellation. Write down who canceled each ride, the member or your company, and why. The report counts both kinds. See late cancellations.
2. Answer every complaint in writing. Substantiated grievances are reported with your company’s name on them. Keep your reply, the dates, and the trip records you send the broker. See how to handle broker complaints.
3. Match your records to MediDrive’s. Each month, compare the rides MediDrive shows as completed, and what it paid by procedure code, with your own trip logs and payment records. Ask MediDrive to fix any gap in writing. See NEMT trip documentation.
4. Know your standing. Terminations, corrective action plans, and performance improvement plans are all counted. Under HB26-1328, HCPF’s rules must ban trip caps with one exception. HCPF may cap a provider’s trips as part of a corrective action plan based on documented, measurable performance problems, for a limited time, after written notice and a real chance to fix them. See corrective action plans.
5. Finish your MediDrive contract. If you serve counties outside the Denver metro area, finish contracting with MediDrive before December 1, 2026. That day, members there start booking rides through MediDrive for appointments on or after January 1, 2027. See MediDrive’s takeover for the steps.

Our Colorado state guide covers licensing and insurance, and the MediDrive broker page covers how to join its network.