# NEMT in Sarasota: The Health Department Van Permit and Who Buys the Rides

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/states/florida/sarasota-county/ · Updated 2026-09-30

NEMT in Sarasota starts with a permit from the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, one for your service and one for each wheelchair or stretcher van, issued within 30 days once fees, insurance, and vehicle rules are met. Breeze Transit buys the county's state-funded trips from one contractor. Medicaid members ride through MTM Health or their health plan's broker.

- In Sarasota the state health department's county office, not a transit or licensing office, permits wheelchair and stretcher vans.
- Every driver and every helper needs current CPR, and each driver signs sworn statements on health, sobriety, and texting.
- A van based in another county needs a Sarasota permit only when it picks a rider up inside Sarasota County.
- Breeze buys all of its paratransit from one contractor under a contract whose first term runs to March 31, 2031.
- MTM Health listed no stretcher vans in Sarasota in its 2025 capacity count, and Sunshine Health had over half the comprehensive plan members.

## Sarasota County NEMT at a glance

| Fact | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Permit office | Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, under county code chapter 62, article VIII: one permit for the service and one for each van |
| Decision time | Within 30 days of the application. Every permit expires on June 30. |
| Drivers | 18 or older, current CPR, no reckless driving or DUI conviction in three years, and a sworn pledge not to text while driving. Helpers need CPR too. |
| Insurance per van | $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident, and $50,000 property damage, or a $300,000 single limit, with 30 days of cancellation notice to the department |
| Vehicle rules | 50-inch interior height, a 1A:10B:C extinguisher, a hard-shell roof, a seatbelt cutter, and the permit number in 3-inch letters front and rear |
| State-funded rides | Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners through Breeze Transit, coordinator from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2028 |
| Paratransit contractor | Via (River North Transit, LLC), one contract for all Breeze Plus and on-demand trips from April 1, 2026, five years with options to March 31, 2035 |
| Trip-grant rates 2026-27 | $28.74 per ambulatory trip and $49.27 per wheelchair trip, a revision on the local board's September 9, 2026 agenda to replace the $16.00 and $27.42 approved in June |
| Medicaid | Region F. Members outside a plan ride with MTM Health. The county had 33,191 comprehensive plan members on August 31, 2026. |

## Who arranges rides here

- [Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County](https://sarasota.floridahealth.gov/): Issues the service permit and a permit for each wheelchair or stretcher van. (941) 861-2900
- [Breeze Transit, Sarasota County](https://www.scgov.net/government/breeze-transit/): Coordinates state-funded rides and signs the county's coordination contracts. (941) 861-1021
- Breeze Plus reservations: Books state-funded and ADA paratransit trips, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week. (941) 777-6000
- [Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization](https://www.mympo.org/slcb): Staffs the Sarasota Local Coordinating Board, which reviews Breeze each year. (941) 359-5772
- [MTM Health, Florida fee-for-service](https://www.mtm-inc.net/floridaffs/): Books Medicaid rides for Region F members who are not in a health plan. (844) 239-5974

In Sarasota County the rules for wheelchair and stretcher vans sit in the health code. Chapter 62 makes the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County the permit office for every NEMT service and every van, with its own standards for drivers, helpers, and equipment. The county's paratransit is fully contracted out, but since April 2026 it all goes to one company under a long contract. For a small company, the openings run through the permit, the Medicaid brokers, and private work.

Florida has no state NEMT license, so you enroll with Florida Medicaid through AHCA and then join the brokers your county's plans use. The [Florida guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/florida/) covers enrollment and state rules, and the Florida NEMT license guide compares Sarasota's permit with the other counties that license vans.

## Who arranges NEMT in Sarasota County

| What | Who arranges or approves it | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Permits for your service and each wheelchair or stretcher van | Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, 2200 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota | 941-861-2900 |
| State-funded and ADA paratransit (Breeze Plus) | Sarasota County, through Breeze Transit, 5303 Pinkney Ave. | 941-861-1021 |
| Breeze Plus trip booking | Via, the county's contractor | 941-777-6000 |
| Medicaid rides for members not in a health plan | MTM Health, for Region F | 1-844-239-5974 |
| Medicaid rides for plan members | Each plan's broker: Alivi, Modivcare, Ride2MD, or MTM Health | Through the plan |

## What the Sarasota County NEMT permit covers

Article VIII covers vehicles used to carry riders confined to wheelchairs or on stretchers who do not need medical care during the ride. A permitted service may not provide basic or advanced life support, and its vans may not carry life support equipment. The only exception is an optional basic first aid kit, with contents the health department administrator sets.

The article exempts state-licensed ambulances, public transit vehicles, vehicles under a physician's direct supervision in an emergency, and vans based outside the county. That last exemption has a catch: any outside van that picks up a rider inside Sarasota County must meet the Sarasota rules.

The rules step aside only in a city that enforces its own ordinance with equal or stronger standards (sec. 62-265). The City of Sarasota's vehicles-for-hire chapter now holds only a bus shelter rule, and Venice's covers low-speed and horse or pedal vehicles, so neither city has its own NEMT ordinance. On September 28, 2021 the county repealed the article's sunset clause (Ordinance 2021-050), so the article no longer carries an expiry date.

## How to get a Sarasota County NEMT permit

1. **Get the forms from the health department** at 941-861-2900. You apply for the service and for each van on the department's forms.
2. **Pay the fees.** The health department's fees take effect once the county commission approves them by resolution (sec. 62-1), so ask the department for the current amounts.
3. **Show your insurance** at the county's limits, with 30 days of cancellation notice to the department.
4. **Write a call-screening statement** that explains how you make sure every call you answer is nonemergency. The permit cannot issue without it.
5. **Have each van meet the equipment rules** below. The department issues the permit within 30 days of receiving the application once all of this is in place.

If the department denies you, you can ask its administrator for a review in writing within 30 days of the denial, stating your reasons. The administrator answers within 15 days. If the denial stands, you have 30 days to appeal to the county commission through the Clerk to the Board, with your application, the review request and answer, and the basis for your appeal. The commission's decision is final.

## Driver, helper, and vehicle rules in Sarasota

Your company must document that each driver:

- is at least 18
- swears under oath to having no physical or mental condition that could impair driving a van, and no addiction to alcohol or drugs
- has had no reckless driving or DUI conviction, and no license suspension under the state point system, in the last three years
- holds the right Florida driver license for the vehicle
- holds current basic CPR certification from the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or an equivalent
- swears not to text or drive distracted behind the wheel of a permitted van

Anyone who rides along to help must also be at least 18, hold current CPR, and swear to being fit for the work and free of addiction. Each van needs enough staff to load, carry, and unload riders safely. The [NEMT driver requirements guide](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-driver-requirements/) covers the broker rules that sit on top of these.

| Equipment | Sarasota rule (sec. 62-257) |
|---|---|
| Every van | Inside mirror to watch the rider (at least 19 square inches, or 5 inches across if round), door latches, a smooth floor with full covering, a 1A:10B:C extinguisher, 50 inches from floor to ceiling, two-way radio or a hands-free phone, a full hard-shell roof, and a seatbelt cutter |
| Wheelchair vans | A ramp or lift, two separate tie-downs per wheelchair that allow no more than 2 inches of movement forward or back and none sideways, and a belt to hold each rider in the chair |
| Stretcher vans | A floor or wall stretcher mount and at least two straps per stretcher, one of them a shoulder restraint |
| Oxygen | Only the rider's own, if the rider is alert and manages it, secured upright, with no more than 500 liters on board and regulators of 6 liters a minute or less |

Stretcher riders get clean blankets or disposable sheets each trip, soiled linen goes in an airtight compartment, and stretchers are disinfected after every use. Each van gets a yearly mechanical inspection on the department's own checklist, and no one smokes in a van during a trip.

## Keeping a Sarasota permit

- **Yearly renewal.** Every permit expires on June 30, and the department renews it only after inspecting your service and vans.
- **No transfers.** A permit cannot move to another owner, another address, or another van, so a replacement van needs its own permit.
- **Display.** Show the van's permit number in letters at least 3 inches high on the front and back, the vehicle permit inside the van, and the service permit at your office.
- **Records.** Keep personnel, registration, inspection, and insurance records for three years at your office, plus a separate log of unusual incidents during trips with the rider's name, date, time, and what happened.
- **Advertising.** Never use the word "ambulance" or the Star of Life. Say plainly that you give no medical care, and print your department permit number in every print and online ad.
- **Enforcement.** The department may inspect at reasonable hours. A violation left uncorrected after written notice costs you the permit, and each day of violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to 60 days in jail, or both.

## Breeze Plus and state-funded trips

The Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners coordinates the state's Transportation Disadvantaged program through Breeze Transit, known as SCAT until 2023. Its current term runs from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2028, and the county ended its Medicaid transportation contract on January 1, 2008. Sarasota is a complete brokerage: the county drives none of the trips itself.

| Sarasota, fiscal 2024-25 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Trips by contracted operators | 153,954 |
| Trips by coordination contractors | 3,322 |
| Trips paid by the state Medicaid agency | 0 |
| Medical trips | 37,650 of 157,276 |
| Vehicles | 93 |
| Wheelchair accessible vehicles | 71 |
| Cost per paratransit trip | $60.75 |

That year the work was split. MTM Transit, LLC had run paratransit and leased the county's vehicles under a contract approved October 26, 2021, and Via ran the on-demand zones under an April 2021 contract. Both contracts ended March 31, 2026. The county issued a request for proposals on August 8, 2025, and on January 13, 2026 the commission awarded one combined contract to Via, operating as River North Transit, LLC. It began April 1, 2026 for five years, with options that could carry it to March 31, 2035.

The new contract is priced at first at $58.56 per vehicle revenue hour, where the old paratransit contract averaged just over $53.84 per trip in fiscal 2025. Breeze told its board in June 2026 that ambulatory trips now run in minivans and in drivers' own SUVs. From April to June 2026, Breeze Plus completed 20,655 state-funded trips for 892 riders, and 15.8% of those trips were wheelchair trips.

| State trip-grant rate per trip, 2026-27 | Ambulatory | Wheelchair |
|---|---|---|
| Approved by the local board, June 3, 2026 | $16.00 | $27.42 |
| Revised rates on the September 9, 2026 agenda | $28.74 | $49.27 |
| Revised rates without subsidy | $41.56 | $71.24 |

Those are the rates the state's trip grant pays the county for riders no agency sponsors, not what a contractor earns. Five agencies held coordination contracts in the June 2026 plan to carry their own clients: The Haven, the Suncoast Center for Independent Living, The Pines of Sarasota, Sunrise Community of Southwest Florida, and Sunnyside Properties of Sarasota. The county reviews contractors every year for safety plans, maintenance, driver records and training, and drug and alcohol testing, and it pays invoices through the Clerk under the state's Local Government Prompt Payment Act.

## Medicaid rides in Sarasota County

Sarasota is in Medicaid Region F. Under the state's NEMT waiver for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027, [MTM Health](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/mtm-health/) serves members who are not in a plan, and its 2025 capacity analysis listed 17 vehicles in Sarasota: 13 cab and 4 lift, with no stretcher van. Plan members book with their plan's broker. As of August 31, 2026:

| Plan | Sarasota members | Broker for its rides |
|---|---|---|
| Sunshine Health | 19,102 | [Alivi](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/alivi/) |
| Humana Medical Plan | 6,147 | [Modivcare](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/modivcare/) |
| Simply Healthcare | 5,529 | Ride2MD |
| Community Care Plan | 1,592 | Modivcare |
| Florida Community Care | 765 | Ride2MD |

The county had 33,191 members in these comprehensive plans. Aetna, with 19 members, and UnitedHealthcare, with 15, barely reach Sarasota, although both have thousands in Manatee to the north.

## What to do first in Sarasota County

1. **Call the health department at 941-861-2900** for the service and vehicle applications, the current fees, and its vehicle inspection checklist.
2. **Build your vans to the Sarasota list** before you apply: the 50-inch ceiling, the 1A:10B:C extinguisher, the seatbelt cutter, the passenger mirror, and the 3-inch permit numbers.
3. **Get every driver and helper CPR certified** and collect their sworn statements.
4. **Enroll with Florida Medicaid and apply to Alivi first.** Sunshine Health had more than half of the county's comprehensive plan members in August 2026.
5. **Look at stretcher work.** MTM Health counted no stretcher vans in Sarasota in 2025. See [stretcher van requirements](https://nemtguide.com/guides/stretcher-van-requirements/).
6. **Go to the Sarasota Local Coordinating Board.** It meets at the Sarasota/Manatee MPO, 5460-A 63rd Street East in Bradenton, and its packets carry Breeze's service plan, rates, and quarterly trip counts. Before you drive for any contractor as a subcontractor, read [how to subcontract NEMT trips](https://nemtguide.com/guides/subcontract-nemt-trips/).

Breeze shares a bus route and Longboat Key service with Manatee County to the north, and its on-demand zone reaches into Englewood in [Charlotte County](https://nemtguide.com/states/florida/charlotte-county/) to the south.

## Frequently asked questions

### Who issues NEMT permits in Sarasota County?

The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County. County code chapter 62, article VIII requires a permit from the department for your service and for each van that carries riders in wheelchairs or on stretchers. The department issues it within 30 days once your fees are paid, your vans and service meet the rules, and you show insurance and a statement of how you screen out emergency calls.

### Do NEMT drivers in Sarasota need CPR?

Yes. The county code requires every driver to hold current basic CPR certification from the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or an equivalent, and every helper who rides along to hold it too. Drivers must also be at least 18, swear they have no condition that impairs their driving and no addiction, and swear they will not text while driving.

### Can a Manatee County NEMT company pick up riders in Sarasota?

Only with a Sarasota permit. Vans based outside the county are exempt from the Sarasota rules, except that any van picking up a rider inside Sarasota County must meet them. A Manatee company can finish a trip into Sarasota under its own rules, but a pickup in Sarasota brings the permit, driver, and vehicle rules into play.

### Does Breeze Plus hire private NEMT companies?

Breeze buys its trips under contract. In January 2026 the county commission awarded one contract to Via for all ADA, state-funded, and on-demand trips, starting April 1, 2026 for five years with options that could run to March 31, 2035. Agencies that carry their own clients can hold coordination contracts, and five did in the June 2026 service plan.

### How much insurance does a Sarasota wheelchair van need?

The county code sets $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident, and $50,000 for property damage for each van, or one $300,000 combined limit, from an insurer licensed in Florida. The policy must give the health department 30 days of notice before cancellation. Trips paid through the state's Transportation Disadvantaged program carry a higher state floor of $200,000 per person.

### Who books Medicaid rides in Sarasota?

Members who are not in a health plan book with MTM Health at 1-844-239-5974. Plan members book through their plan: Sunshine Health rides go through Alivi, Humana and Community Care Plan through Modivcare, and Simply and Florida Community Care through Ride2MD. Sarasota County ended its own Medicaid transportation contract on January 1, 2008.

## Official resources

- [Sarasota County Code, chapter 62, article VIII: the full permit rules](https://library.municode.com/fl/sarasota_county/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH62HESA_ARTVIIINOMETRVE)
- [Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County](https://sarasota.floridahealth.gov/)
- [Sarasota/Manatee MPO: Sarasota Local Coordinating Board meetings and packets](https://www.mympo.org/slcb)
- [MTM Health: Join the transportation network](https://www.mtm-inc.net/service-providers/)
- [Alivi: Become a transportation provider](https://alivi.com/become-a-transportation-provider/)