# Texas Inspector General Audit of SafeRide, Inc. Ends in a $315,000 Medicaid Settlement

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/news/texas-oig-nemt-audit-repayment/ · Updated 2026-09-30

On July 21, 2026, the Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced that SafeRide, Inc. must repay Texas Medicaid. SafeRide, Inc. arranges rides for Superior HealthPlan's Texas Medicaid members, and the audit covered its trips for Superior's STAR+PLUS members. OIG's audit found $515,890.65 in overpayments on trips from September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2023. In the third quarter of the state's 2026 fiscal year, OIG agreed to a $315,000 settlement to resolve those billing issues.

## What the audit found

The audit is report AUD-26-002, dated September 4, 2025. OIG checked whether SafeRide, Inc. followed state rules and its contract with Superior for member complaints, billing, trip records, and prior authorizations. It found that the company generally kept trip records and completed the sign-up and claim forms for individual transportation participants, the people paid a set rate to drive a member, or themselves, in a personal car. It also missed several requirements.

| Area | What OIG found | Overpayment |
|---|---|---|
| Fraud complaints | In 13 of 30 complaints tested, the member said no ride came, but the driver marked the trip complete and the claim was paid without a fraud review | Not counted in the total |
| Rides not given | In 3 of 30 complaints, the provider correctly marked the trip incomplete, but the vendor billed Superior anyway | $125.52 |
| Wrong miles and amounts | Wrong destination addresses on 2 trips, a $999.99 placeholder paid on 7 trips, and a 2-mile trip changed to a 510-mile trip with no health care service | $8,228.40 |
| Pay above contract rates | 31,149 of 379,920 trips (8.2 percent) got an extra "cost override" on top of the contracted rate | $507,536.73 |
| Separation of duties | The same employee submitted and approved cost overrides | Not counted in the total |
| Prior authorization | 38 of 58 trips tested had a leg over 75 miles without Superior's written prior authorization | Not counted in the total |
| Total | | $515,890.65 |

The 13 unreviewed complaint claims totaled $1,586.81. The vendor said the fraud referrals were lost during a system change.

## Who the audit covers

Superior contracts with SafeRide, Inc. to arrange rides for its members. Superior pays it the trip costs plus an administrative fee, and the vendor pays the transportation providers and individual transportation participants who drive. During the audit year, Superior paid it $4,993,508 in administrative fees across all programs and $32,783,011 for rides for STAR+PLUS members in the Bexar, Dallas, Hidalgo, Lubbock, Medicaid Rural Service Area (MRSA) Central, MRSA West, and Nueces service areas.

OIG's report points readers to the SafeRide Health website for more on SafeRide, Inc. As of September 30, 2026, the state's plan list names SafeRide as the ride vendor for Community First, Driscoll, Molina, Superior, Texas Children's, and UnitedHealthcare. See our [SafeRide Health guide](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/saferide-health/) for how its network works.

## Why the extra pay counted as an overpayment

OIG says a ride vendor serving Texas Medicaid members must keep records showing each service was allowable and may not pay providers more than their contracted rates. It cites 1 Texas Administrative Code 371.1667, which makes a person subject to sanctions when its records cannot show that payment matched the established rates.

The vendor told OIG it paid the extra amounts for long waits and long one-way trips, raised rates when fuel costs rose, and paid more for dialysis and rural riders. OIG stood by its finding because the records did not support the amounts. The overrides ranged from $0.01 to $1,510.36 a trip and averaged $16.29.

| Trip length | Trips with an override | Extra paid |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 miles | 10,709 | $48,892 |
| 5 to 20 miles | 12,234 | $116,951 |
| 20 to 100 miles | 5,520 | $157,587 |
| 100 to 200 miles | 2,500 | $138,147 |
| 200 miles or more | 186 | $45,960 |

## What it means for transportation providers

OIG directed the repayment to SafeRide, Inc., not to the companies it paid. The findings still show what a Texas plan or its vendor will check on your trips.

1. **Get every rate in writing.** Extra pay for waits, long trips, or rural runs belongs in your contract or a signed rate card. The vendor told OIG that each ride now gets its estimated cost from the provider's rate card in its system, and it set December 15, 2025 to finish detailed rate cards and a contract tracking tool.
2. **Confirm authorization before long trips.** Superior's agreement requires written [prior authorization](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/prior-authorization/) for any trip with a continuous leg over 75 miles. The vendor said it added system checks, so expect a long trip to wait for approval.
3. **Record what really happened.** Mark a trip incomplete when the rider was not picked up. The state's NEMT handbook requires the member's signature on the trip manifest and lets the plan or vendor verify a ride with a digital signature or GPS at pickup and drop-off.
4. **Fix a wrong address before you drive it.** Miles to a wrong address, or to a place with no covered health care service, were counted as overpayments. Call the vendor and note the change on your [trip log](https://nemtguide.com/templates/nemt-trip-log-template/).
5. **Keep records five years.** Texas rule 371.1667 requires records for at least five years from the date of service, or until every audit and appeal is resolved. Not producing them within 24 hours of an OIG request can count as a violation too.

See [NEMT trip documentation](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-trip-documentation/) and [Medicaid audits for NEMT](https://nemtguide.com/guides/medicaid-audit-for-nemt/) for how to build a file that holds up.

## Key dates

| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 1, 2021 | Date of the Superior and SafeRide, Inc. transportation vendor agreement |
| September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023 | The trips OIG audited |
| January 30, 2025 | OIG sends its engagement letter |
| February 5 to May 1, 2025 | OIG fieldwork |
| July 15, 2025 | Draft report shared with the vendor |
| September 4, 2025 | Final report AUD-26-002 |
| December 15, 2025 | Vendor's target date for its rate card and payment approval fixes |
| Third quarter, fiscal year 2026 | OIG agrees to a $315,000 settlement |
| July 21, 2026 | OIG announces the result |

## Who to contact

- **Texas HHS OIG fraud hotline:** 800-436-6184
- **OIG audit reports:** OIGAuditReports@hhs.texas.gov
- **SafeRide Health billing department for Superior trips:** 855-932-2320

For rates, enrollment, and plan contracts across the state, see our [Texas state guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/texas/).