Montgomery County, Maryland Medical Assistance Transportation: How Ride Companies Join (2027)

Montgomery County is the one place in Maryland where Medicaid rides run through the county Department of Transportation (MCDOT) instead of a health department. MCDOT’s Division of Transit Services certifies riders, approves wheelchair, stretcher, and ambulance trips, and offers one standard contract to every company that qualifies. Because the county sits inside the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission (WMATC) district, a van company needs WMATC authority here on top of its Maryland authority.

Who runs Medical Assistance Transportation in Montgomery County

The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) pays for Medicaid rides through local programs under COMAR 10.09.19, and the Maryland guide explains that statewide grant system. MDH’s February 2026 public notice names the local health departments and MCDOT as the program’s grantees, and its October 2019 report to the legislature describes a separate interagency agreement with the county government.

The Medicaid Transportation Office sits in MCDOT’s Division of Transit Services at 101 Monroe Street, 5th floor, in Rockville, one block west of the Rockville Metro station. As of September 2026, it books rides on 240-777-5899 Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and its information line is 240-777-5890.

The office serves county residents with full Medical Assistance who have no other way to reach a covered medical service. Each rider sends a Provider Certification Form signed by a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or dentist, plus proof of county residency, and gets the decision by mail. The form lasts one year and names one mode: sedan or transit, wheelchair, or ambulance. Riders book up to seven days ahead, and next-day trips must be requested by noon on the working day before. There is no same-day service except hospital discharges.

MDH counted 76,227 paid trips in Montgomery County in fiscal year 2019, at an average program cost of $41.50 a trip. Only Baltimore County and Harford County ran more.

How to get a Montgomery County Medicaid ride contract

MCDOT buys rides through an open solicitation, #1171472, under section 4.1.6.3 of the county procurement regulations. There is no bid price and no single winner. Every applicant that meets the minimums, accepts the posted rates in writing, sends a conforming certificate of insurance, and signs the county’s pre-approved contract as written gets a contract. The county will not negotiate changes to that contract.

Contracts expire April 30, 2030. The public notice says the county stops taking new applications six months before that date, so the door is open until about the end of October 2029.

Service	Minimum to apply	Certificates you attach
Taxicab	A taxicab fleet or association as defined in County Code Chapter 53	Count of taxicabs and affiliates, insurance
Wheelchair van	One year of continuous non-ambulatory service and two or more wheelchair vans	WMATC, PSC, first aid, CPR, insurance
Wheelchair van, geri chair, and stretcher	Own and operate two or more vehicles and own at least one geri chair	WMATC, PSC, first aid, CPR, insurance
Non-emergency ambulance	Current ambulance licenses	WMATC, PSC, EMT, first aid, CPR, insurance

Every applicant also sends an organizational chart, a list of all employees, an ownership and control disclosure form, each driver’s license number and driving record, drug test records, a vehicle list with MVA registrations and maintenance records, affidavits of mobility device safety training, first aid, AED, and CPR certificates, and a complaint resolution policy. Criminal background and driving records must be current on the day you apply.

Steps to apply

1. Download the packet from MCDOT’s Transit Services solicitation page: the open solicitation, the public notice, and the application form.
2. Get your WMATC and PSC certificates first. The contract requires a copy of each, except for taxicabs.
3. Buy the county’s insurance (table below) and have your agent name Montgomery County as additional insured.
4. Complete Attachment A, the statement of availability: trip capacity, vehicle count, base address, share of trips by ZIP code, and average response time.
5. Email the packet to the address in the solicitation. Technical questions go to the Division of Transit Services at 240-777-5890.
6. Wait for the signed contract. It takes effect when the Director of the Office of Procurement signs it, and you carry no county riders before then.

County insurance

Coverage	Minimum (Attachment B)
Commercial general liability	$1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate
Business auto	$1,000,000 combined single limit, owned, hired, and non-owned
Workers’ compensation	Maryland statutory, with employer’s liability of $100,000 per accident, $500,000 disease policy limit, $100,000 per employee
Professional liability	$1,000,000 per claim, $2,000,000 aggregate, ambulance services only

Your insurance is primary, and subcontractors carry the same limits. Montgomery County goes on your general liability, auto, and umbrella policies as additional insured, and the certificate holder is MCDOT at 101 Monroe Street. WMATC’s own minimum is higher than the county’s auto limit, so size the auto policy to WMATC. See NEMT insurance requirements.

How trips reach your company

The county certifies each rider and the mode, then notifies contractors, and it guarantees no minimum number of trips. Taxicab trips rotate among taxicab contractors by the capacity each one states. Every other mode starts with the rider or facility: MCDOT gives facilities and approved riders a list of approved companies and phone numbers, and they call the one they choose. The county keeps the right to assign trips.

That makes discharge planners, nursing homes, and dialysis centers in the county your real source of wheelchair and stretcher work. See how to get NEMT facility contracts and hospital discharge transportation.

Before each wheelchair van or ambulance trip, you need the county’s pre-authorization and its identification number for the rider. A facility or transportation company requests one on MCDOT’s Request for Authorization form, and the form says numbers come within 24 hours. Wheelchair van companies also check each rider in Maryland Medicaid’s Eligibility Verification System (EVS) before a facility-to-facility trip. EVS asks for an NPI or a Medicaid provider number, so get an NPI before you apply.

Wheelchair van and ambulance trips run between points in Montgomery County and Washington, DC. Any trip outside that area needs the Medicaid office’s approval first. The county may also ask for same-day hospital or nursing home discharges, and you then make every effort to respond within one hour.

What Montgomery County pays

Appendix A of the 2025 packet sets these rates. MDH approves them and can adjust them, and the county pays only from the State’s funding for the program.

Service	Rate	Extra miles
Taxicab or ambulatory van	County taxicab meter: $4 to start, $0.50 each quarter mile, $1 per added rider, $28 an hour waiting, plus an 8% administrative fee	Metered
Wheelchair van	$50 one way up to 20 miles, $100 round trip up to 40 miles	$1.50 a mile over 20
Non-emergency wheelchair van or stretcher	$61.25 one way up to 20 miles, $122.50 round trip, two crew included	$1.50 a mile past 40 miles round trip (20 one way); $20.42 for an approved third crew member
Geri chair van	$55 one way, $110 round trip	$3.00 a mile over 20
BLS ambulance	$361 one way, first 20 miles	$9.00 a mile
ALS ambulance	$412 one way, first 20 miles	$9.00 a mile
Bariatric ambulance	$544 one way, first 20 miles	$9.00 a mile
Critical care ambulance	$1,011 one way, first 20 miles	$9.00 a mile

Every wheelchair, stretcher, geri chair, and ambulance trip needs prior approval. Send original invoices on letterhead, numbered in order, one month per invoice, no later than two weeks after the service. Each shows the rider, addresses, date, trip number, driver ID, mileage, charge, and trip purpose, with the rider-signed trip tickets attached. Ambulance claims go on a CMS-1500 with the run report and the authorization form.

MCDOT checks each trip with the medical facility before paying, and the public notice says contractors are paid weekly once invoices are verified. June closes the county’s fiscal year, so June invoices are due by July 10. Never let a rider sign a blank trip ticket; the contract makes you liable for any false one. See how to fill out a CMS-1500 for NEMT.

The county’s service rules

• Timing. Arrive within 15 minutes of the time your dispatcher promised, and pick up within one hour of each request, including will-call returns.
• Waiting and no-shows. You wait no more than five minutes after telling the rider you are there. A rider not at the pickup within five minutes of the stated time, with no timely call, is a no-show.
• Crew. Keep at least two people in the vehicle whenever you carry a non-ambulatory rider by wheelchair van, geri chair van, or ambulance.
• Training. Everyone who drives or assists has first aid, CPR, and safe lifting training before starting, and you send certificates for each new hire.
• Vehicles. Wheelchair vans are ADA compliant with enough headroom and a hydraulic lift, with lap and shoulder belts, truck-type mirrors on both sides, flares, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, sick bags, and posted belt-angle instructions.
• Complaints. Validated complaints stay under 0.5% of your monthly trips. Missing a standard brings a 10-day suspension, and the county may withhold pay for the service that fell short.
• Records and exit. Keep trip records for six years. Leaving by mutual consent takes 90 days’ written notice, and any subcontract needs the Director of Procurement’s written approval.

County labor laws apply too. Montgomery County’s minimum wage since July 1, 2026 is $15.95 an hour for employers with 10 or fewer employees, $16.50 for 11 to 50, and $18.00 for 51 or more, and its Earned Sick and Safe Leave law covers county contractors.

WMATC and PSC authority for Montgomery County trips

WMATC’s district covers DC, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, Arlington and Fairfax counties, Alexandria, Falls Church, and Dulles Airport. A trip from one point in Montgomery County to another, or to DC or anywhere else in the district, needs a WMATC certificate. WMATC does not assert jurisdiction over ambulance service, though the county still asks ambulance applicants for a WMATC certificate, and bona fide taxicabs seating nine or fewer, driver included, need none. If any of your trips need a certificate, WMATC treats your whole fleet as covered unless you prove the fleet is split.

WMATC sends a notice of acceptance in about two weeks, allows 14 days for protests, and usually decides routine cases within 14 days after that. A conditional grant then gives you 180 days to file your vehicle list, for-hire registrations (Maryland B or P tags), inspection proof, tariff, and insurance endorsement, and to pass WMATC’s own inspection. Operating before the certificate arrives risks fines of up to $5,000 a day. WMATC’s office is at 1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1240, in Silver Spring. Since July 27, 2026, visitors go to Suite 505 while the office is temporarily moved, and mail still goes to Suite 1240.

The amounts below come from WMATC’s posted fee sheet, dated June 30, 2015, and its insurance rules.

WMATC item	Amount
Application for a certificate	$300
Annual fee	$175
Each tariff filing	$75
Each vehicle lease filing	$75
Insurance, vehicles seating 15 or fewer	$1,500,000 combined single limit
Insurance, any size vehicle	$5,000,000 combined single limit

Stretcher vans work differently here than in the rest of Maryland. A 1995 Attorney General opinion found that stretcher van service is ambulance service under the state licensing agency, except in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, to the extent WMATC regulates it there. That is why the county buys a separate wheelchair van, geri chair, and stretcher category. See stretcher van and stretcher van requirements.

You also need Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) carrier authority and PSC for-hire licenses for your drivers, as the Maryland guide explains. The county contract asks for the certificate from both commissions.

What to do first

1. Call MCDOT at 240-777-5890. Ask which services have the fewest contractors and how facilities get the approved list.
2. Check the wheelchair van minimum. Without a year of wheelchair work and two vans, build that record first with facility or private-pay rides. See government NEMT contracts.
3. File with WMATC and the PSC at the same time, since both take weeks.
4. Get insurance quotes to WMATC’s $1.5 million limit and the county’s Attachment B.
5. Apply under #1171472 with every document on the checklist, then introduce your company to discharge planners in the county.

Baltimore works the other way: its health department assigns each rider to one of a few contracted companies. See Baltimore City Medical Assistance Transportation.