NEMT in Wichita, Kansas: The City Medi-Coach License and Its Public Need Hearing (2027)

Wichita writes its own license for wheelchair and stretcher vans, separate from any state or broker rule. The city calls these vehicles medi-coaches, and a company may not carry its first rider in one until the city licenses the business after a public hearing on whether Wichita needs more service.

Who needs a Wichita medi-coach license

Wichita Code Section 3.82.010 defines a medi-coach as a vehicle equipped or used to carry people who cannot walk and are confined to a wheelchair or a similar device, including a litter or bed, as long as no medical care is given during the trip. Medical care means services that must be provided or monitored by a physician, registered nurse, or emergency medical technician. Section 3.82.080 makes running a medi-coach service without the license unlawful.

• Wheelchair and stretcher vans need it. That includes a van running trips a broker assigns, since the chapter has no exception for Medicaid or broker work.
• Public and charity vehicles do not. The definition leaves out vehicles run by the City of Wichita or Sedgwick County, and a charity’s vehicles when the rides are part of its purpose and free.
• Medical care on board is outside the definition. Chapter 3.80 licenses ambulances separately, meaning vehicles equipped or used to carry wounded, injured, sick, or deceased people for hire, and the city’s application charges an ambulance company $100 plus $20 per vehicle.
• Sedans for riders who walk are not medi-coaches. The taxicab code, Chapter 3.84, covers vehicles for hire that charge by taximeter, so ask City License which rule, if any, fits a sedan service.

The license covers the corporate limits of the city. Riders in the smaller Sedgwick County towns also have Sedgwick County Transportation, a county service that carries older adults, people with disabilities, and rural residents into Wichita on a first come, first served basis, and it does not give emergency rides.

How to get licensed

Section 3.82.040 sends the application to the city’s license collector. Today that is City License (Business Licensing) at City Hall, 455 N. Main, 1st floor, 316-268-4553, which lists the Ambulance and Medi-Coach Company application among its transportation licenses.

What the application asks for

• The names and addresses of everyone with a financial interest in the company, and every felony conviction of each person named.
• How many medi-coaches you will run, and the insurance company you have applied to for liability coverage.
• Each vehicle’s make, model, year, motor number, VIN, state plate, color and design, and seating.
• A copy of the proposed liability policy.
• The list of charges you will make to the public.
• The fee. Section 3.82.040 sets $15, and the city’s form charges $15 a year for each medi-coach with no company fee.

These items come from the code and the city’s January 2015 form, so check them against the application City License hands you.

Section 3.82.050 adds that before any license issues, you file the insurance policy with the City Clerk, 455 N. Main, 13th floor, 316-268-4529, and the city attorney approves its form and endorsement. The chapter sets no dollar limit, so ask City License what amount the city attorney accepts. The SafeRide Health in Kansas page lists that broker’s own minimums, and NEMT insurance requirements explains the coverage types.

The public need hearing

Section 3.82.060 has the director of community health set a public hearing at the board of health’s first regular meeting after your application is complete. The board hears testimony for and against two questions: whether your service would promote public convenience, and whether the licensed medi-coach companies already running are unable to meet the public’s needs. It also weighs the transportation already in place and your finances (Section 3.82.100). This is a certificate of public convenience and necessity test, and the board issues that certificate together with the license.

Three limits apply at the hearing:

1. Felony bar. The board may approve you only if no owner, manager, partner, director, or officer has ever been convicted of a felony.
2. Rates. The board approves the rates you may charge during the license term.
3. Need. If the board finds the city does not need more medi-coaches, it denies the license. You may appeal to the City Council by a written request to the City Clerk within 10 days (Section 3.82.140).

The chapter names the Wichita-Sedgwick County board of health and department of community health. Today Sedgwick County runs a Sedgwick County Health Department, and its County Commission serves as the local board of health under K.S.A. 65-201, so the code’s names may not match the offices that exist now. The city’s March 2005 information sheet sent applicants to Environmental Health at 1900 E. 9th, which is now a Sedgwick County Health Department location. Ask City License who holds the hearing and inspects vans today, and get the answer in writing.

Equipment, inspections, rates, and renewal

• Equipment. Section 3.82.030 requires floor locks and shoulder and waist straps, plus any other safety device the director of community health requires. A medi-coach may carry one extra seat, used only by a person helping the rider.
• No emergency lights. Section 3.82.020 bars red or blue lights and sirens, since medi-coaches are not emergency vehicles.
• Inspections. Section 3.82.120 has the board of health inspect each van before it certifies the license, then once every three months after.
• Rates. Section 3.82.130 bars charging the public more than the rates in your application. To raise them, file a request with the City Clerk, who sends it to the board, and the board holds a hearing within 30 days of that referral. Overcharging is grounds to revoke. Riders who pay you directly, as in private pay NEMT, are the clearest case, so ask City License whether the filed rates also apply to trips a broker pays for.
• Renewal. Section 3.82.060 makes licenses due January 1 and ending December 31 of the year they are issued.
• Losing the license. Section 3.82.110 lets the board suspend or revoke a license after 30 days’ notice. A judgment left unpaid 10 days after it becomes final is grounds to cancel every license you hold, and if an insurance policy lapses, every van it covers must stop at once.
• No transfers. Section 3.82.090 bars assigning or transferring the license. A buyer applies fresh, so read how to buy a NEMT business with that hearing in mind.

Who sends rides in Wichita

Most Medicaid riders in Wichita belong to a KanCare health plan, and the plans only contract with providers enrolled in the Kansas Medical Assistance Program (KMAP). As of October 2026, SafeRide Health books rides for Sunflower Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, and MTM Health books them for Healthy Blue, so the Kansas guide walks through KMAP enrollment and both brokers.

What to do first

1. Call City License at 316-268-4553 for the current application, and ask which board holds the need hearing and inspects vans.
2. Check every owner and officer against the felony bar before you spend money.
3. Get an insurance quote and ask what amount the city attorney approves.
4. File the application with your vehicle list, fare list, proposed policy, and $15 per van.
5. Prepare for the hearing with proof that riders lack service, such as letters from dialysis centers, clinics, or care homes.
6. Enroll with KMAP, then apply to MTM Health and SafeRide.

Chicago is another city that licenses each medical van itself.