Schuylkill County Medical Assistance Transportation Program: The County Office, STS, and Carrier Rates

Schuylkill County splits its Medicaid rides between a county desk and the carriers it pays. Staff at 420 North Centre Street in Pottsville take every call, choose the least costly ride that fits, and hand the trip to a carrier. The biggest carrier is the county transit system, but private companies hold rate agreements too, and the commissioners publish every rate in their minutes.

Who runs the program in Schuylkill County

Pennsylvania funds Medicaid rides through each county’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP), and outside Philadelphia there is no broker. The Pennsylvania guide covers Public Utility Commission (PUC) authority, insurance, and the clearances MATP drivers need.

In Schuylkill County the program sits inside the Block Grant Programs, a human services office at 420 North Centre Street in Pottsville. Its Transportation Office registers riders, checks Medical Assistance eligibility, and books every trip, whether that trip is a bus ticket, a mileage check, a volunteer driver, or a shared-ride van. The same office runs Human Services Development Fund (HSDF) rides for low-income adults aged 18 to 59 without Medical Assistance, which as of the 2023 manual covered dialysis only.

The state’s June 25, 2026 broker study lists Schuylkill among seven “county hybrid” programs. In that model county staff share the work with a vendor, usually a transit agency, and the county still claims its MATP staff time through a time study. Lebanon County, to the southwest, is another hybrid.

STS is a carrier, not the program

The county manual stresses that MATP and Schuylkill Transportation System (STS) are separate. STS, based at 300 Wade Road in Saint Clair, was created in 1982 under the county commissioners and is now managed by the Schuylkill County Transportation Authority, whose board members the commissioners appoint. It cannot schedule an MATP trip that did not come through the county office. PennDOT’s report for fiscal 2024-25 (July 2024 to June 2025) profiles its shared-ride service:

STS shared ride	Fiscal 2024-25
Riders 65 and older	36,030 trips
MATP	21,294 trips
ADA paratransit	5,795 trips
Persons with disabilities	2,736 trips
Other shared ride	3,860 trips
Total	69,715 trips
Vehicles in peak service	28
Average cost per trip	$50.10

MATP is about 30% of the vans’ work. The county’s 2023 manual names STS as the main carrier, along with STS subcontractors, Good Will Transport of Minersville, and registered volunteer drivers who mainly take out-of-county trips.

What Schuylkill County pays each carrier

Every carrier works under a rate agreement that ends June 30 each year. The Block Grant Programs manager brings each one to a commissioners’ work session, and the board votes at a public meeting. These are the MATP rates in the minutes:

Carrier	Fiscal 2025-26	Fiscal 2026-27
Schuylkill Transportation System, Saint Clair	$46.25	$46.25
Culture2Culture, doing business as Blue Sky Transportation, Pottsville	$47.37	$57.37
Good Will Fire Company No. 1, Minersville (MATP and HSDF)	$130	$143
Community Services Group, Mountville	none	$28.50 from August 17, 2026

All rates are per one-way trip. The 2025-26 rates were approved on May 28, 2025, the 2026-27 rates on June 10, 2026, and the Community Services Group agreement on August 12, 2026. The March 2026 addendum and the 2026-27 agreement also pay STS $46.25 for an MATP escort, so a trip with an escort costs $92.50.

Riders 65 and older are billed differently. They must also register for STS’s senior shared ride program, where the Pennsylvania Lottery pays 85% of the cost, and a March 25, 2026 addendum set the MATP rate for those trips at $3.60 for trips under 5 miles up to $6.45 for 25 miles or more, starting April 1, 2026. The same rates carried into the 2026-27 agreement.

For scale, STS’s $46.25 MATP rate sits below its own $50.10 average cost per shared-ride trip in fiscal 2024-25. The commissioners approved the county’s fiscal 2024-25 MATP cost report and final trip rate report on September 10, 2025, and the fiscal 2026-27 state funding terms, now called Conditions of Funding and Participation, were on their August 26, 2026 agenda.

The rules carriers drive under

The county manual, revised November 8, 2023, sets what riders are promised, and a carrier’s day has to fit it:

• Deadline. Every trip, including mileage and bus trips, is called in by 11 a.m. the business day before. STS sets its schedule that day and sends time changes to the office in the afternoon.
• Pickup window. The van may arrive 15 minutes early to 15 minutes late. Inside that 30-minute pickup window, the driver does not have to wait for a rider who is not ready.
• Time at the doctor. Drop-off is no more than an hour before the appointment and pickup no more than an hour after it ends. Long trips may stretch that, but never past two and a half hours.
• Return calls. After the appointment the rider calls the carrier directly, and drivers for STS subcontractors and Good Will give riders a cell number to call.
• Urgent care. When a doctor needs the rider seen within 24 hours, the office aims to secure a ride within three hours. That promise does not cover after hours, weekends, or hospital discharges.
• Cancellations. Less than an hour’s notice is a no-show. A second no-show within 90 days can bring confirm-the-day-before rules or a change of mode.

The 2023 manual says STS closes only on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The county office also closes on Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, both election days, Veterans Day, and the day after Thanksgiving. Stretcher and other exceptional trips go to the rider’s health plan or the County Assistance Office, not to MATP.

How to get Schuylkill County MATP trips

1. Get PUC paratransit authority first. A paid ride that starts and ends in Pennsylvania needs PUC authority. The Pennsylvania guide walks through the filing, the insurance minimums, and the driver clearances.
2. Call the Block Grant Programs office. Ask at 570-628-1191 whether the county needs another carrier, which trips it struggles to cover, and what it requires in a rate agreement. The Community Services Group agreement, which started August 17, 2026, shows the county adds carriers after the fiscal year starts, not only in June.
3. Price against the published rates. Your offer will sit beside $46.25 for STS and $57.37 for Blue Sky. A per-trip rate has to carry your empty miles and waiting, so work out your cost per trip before you name a number.
4. Ask STS about subcontract work. The county manual refers to STS subcontractors. Call STS at 570-429-2701 to ask whether it adds subcontract carriers, and read how subcontracting NEMT trips works.
5. Look at the trips others turn down. The county uses volunteer drivers mainly for out-of-county runs, and the manual warns they are not available for every trip. Early and late appointments may not fit the carriers’ schedules either. Stretcher trips go to the health plans, including UPMC for You.
6. Watch the commissioners’ calendar. In 2026 work sessions run on the first and third Wednesdays and public meetings on the second and fourth, mostly at 10 a.m. Four public meetings, including June 10, start at 6 p.m. Next year’s rate agreements appear in late May or June.

Neighboring counties buy rides other ways. In Berks County the state manages MATP through a direct agreement with a transit authority, and Luzerne County uses a vendor.