Highmark Medicare Advantage Plans in Pennsylvania and West Virginia Drop Rides in 2027

Highmark’s Medicare Advantage plans in Pennsylvania and West Virginia stop covering routine rides to medical appointments on January 1, 2027, except some of its plans for people who also have Medicaid. The 2027 Annual Notice of Change for Freedom Blue PPO Valor lists Transportation as “This benefit is not covered.” In 2026 the same plan pays for 24 one-way trips a year at a $0 copay in network. The 2027 notice for Community Blue Medicare PPO Signature makes the same change. Members can pick a different plan for 2027 until December 7, 2026.

What the plans cover now and what ends

Highmark’s 2026 Evidence of Coverage for Freedom Blue PPO Classic shows how the benefit works this year. It covers rides for medical needs such as doctor, dental, vision, hearing, and behavioral health visits and trips to pharmacies, by sedan, wheelchair van, or stretcher van. Each one-way trip can be up to 50 miles. Members get approval and book at least 48 hours ahead by calling Highmark at 1-800-550-8722, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time, except holidays. A trip not scheduled through the plan is not covered.

The plan’s 2027 Evidence of Coverage has no routine ride benefit. Ambulance coverage stays.

The change reaches every Highmark plan sold to individuals in both states other than its plans for people with Medicaid. CMS’s plan benefit files show a ride benefit in all 76 of those Highmark plan options in Pennsylvania for 2026. The 2027 files, dated October 1, 2026, show it in none of the 75. In West Virginia, the count falls from 12 of 12 to 0 of 9. In Pennsylvania these are the Freedom Blue, Community Blue Medicare, Complete Blue, Security Blue, and Together Blue plans, sold in every county but Delaware County. In West Virginia they are Freedom Blue and Complete Blue, sold in all 55 counties. Highmark’s employer group plans list no ride benefit in either year.

Who keeps rides

Two Highmark plans for people with both Medicare and Medicaid still list a ride benefit for 2027 in the CMS files: Highmark Wholecare Medicare Assured Diamond in Pennsylvania and Highmark Health Options Duals in West Virginia. Wholecare Diamond keeps 24 one-way trips a year. Health Options Duals goes from 24 to 20. Wholecare’s Ruby plans list no ride benefit for 2027 and had none in 2026.

Riders with full Medicaid may also qualify for Medicaid rides. Those run through each county’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP) in Pennsylvania and through Modivcare, the statewide broker, in West Virginia.

Highmark is part of a wider pullback. In the same CMS files, 1,815 of 5,522 individual Medicare Advantage plan options nationwide list a ride benefit for 2027, down from 2,128 of 5,557 for 2026. For how plan ride benefits work and who arranges them, see Medicare Advantage transportation.

What NEMT providers should do now

1. Find your Highmark riders. Check the insurance card of every regular rider and note the plan name. Unless a rider is on Wholecare Diamond or Health Options Duals, Highmark covers no routine rides for them from January 1, 2027.
2. Ask your broker which trips end. If your Highmark trips come through a broker, ask it which ones stop in January. MTM Health, for one, lists Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield in Pennsylvania among the plans whose members book rides on its MTM Link member portal and app.
3. Tell riders before December 7. A rider who depends on these trips can compare plans at Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) during open enrollment, which ends December 7, 2026. Highmark’s notice adds that a member who joins a Medicare Advantage plan for January 1, 2027 can switch again from January 1 to March 31, 2027.
4. Plan January driver hours. Expect fewer Highmark trips from January 1, and set schedules for the volume you will still have.
5. Have a private-pay price ready. Some riders will ask what a trip costs without the plan. See private pay NEMT for how to set and collect a fare.