Transportation to Mental Health Appointments

How we handle these trips

Discretion is the default. Our vehicles are marked as medical transport, not as anything more specific. The driver knows the address and the time. They are not told why you are going, because they don’t need to be.

We don’t ask. Dispatch needs the pickup, the destination, the time and the level of service. Nothing else is required and nothing else is asked.

Medication side effects are real transport issues. Several common psychiatric medications cause sedation, dizziness on standing or blurred vision, particularly when a dose is changing. Those are the weeks a ride matters, and the weeks people hesitate to ask for one.

Intensive outpatient programs are a standing-order case. Three to five days a week for six to eight weeks, same time each day. That is a schedule, and we handle it as one.

This is a covered category under Medicaid. Transport to a covered behavioral health appointment is a benefit in both Virginia and Maryland, and a lot of people who qualify don’t know it.

How the ride works

Keep a weekly session on a standing order. Tell us the days, the time and the address once, and every visit stays on our schedule. The same crews tend to cover the same riders, so you see a familiar driver and don’t explain anything twice.

Book a return, or a call-back. Either works. For a fixed fifty-minute session, a scheduled return is usually right. For anything variable, a call-back is better.

Tell us if a family member is traveling too. They ride with you at no extra charge.

Tell us about mobility needs plainly. The level of service question is about how you move, nothing more.

What it costs

Counseling and program rides by ambulatory or wheelchair transportation are $55 per leg on a round trip, with five miles included each way and $3 a mile after that. For a weekly or program schedule, that is the figure to plan with. Stretcher round trips are $230 per leg.

Our rate card and trip estimator are published, so you can price the schedule before you call. Behavioral health transport is a covered category for Virginia Medicaid members. Call the transportation number on your Medicaid ID card; the brokers we work with are MTM Health and SafeRide Health. Request H&M Transport specifically when you book your ride. In DC we serve UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of the District of Columbia members through SafeRide Health, and we are not a Maryland Medicaid provider. Original Medicare doesn’t pay for these vans, but a Medicare Advantage plan whose ride benefit runs through MTM Health or SafeRide Health can send the trip to us. If you’re paying privately, the rate card applies.

Mental health trips that need an ambulance

We drive people to scheduled appointments and home again; the van is transport, not care.

We don’t provide monitoring or medical care on board, we don’t take anyone to an emergency room, and we don’t move patients between hospitals for a higher level of care. If a rider becomes unwell, the driver stops safely and calls 911.

If this is a medical emergency, call 911.

If you’re not sure which you need, call and tell us what’s going on; when it’s an ambulance trip, we’ll say so.

Common questions

What if a session runs over or I don’t know my return time?

Book the return as a will-call. Call dispatch as the session ends and a driver starts your way; call once you’re out and a driver arrives within 45 minutes. Calling early shortens the wait. A driver can wait on site instead at $75 an hour for wheelchair trips or $100 an hour for stretcher.

How do I ask for H&M Transport through Virginia Medicaid?

Call the transportation number on your Medicaid ID card; the brokers we work with are MTM Health and SafeRide Health. Request H&M Transport specifically when you book your ride. Covered rides to behavioral health appointments cost the member nothing.

Can I request a female or male driver?

Yes. Ask when you book and we’ll honor it whenever a driver is available. If we can’t for a particular trip, dispatch will tell you before the ride.

Book the ride

If this is a weekly or program schedule, one call sets it up for the duration.

You can book privately at (703) 304-7889, any hour, or on our reservations page; dispatch asks only for the pickup, the address and the time, and confirms within two hours by call or text. A same-day ride needs three hours’ notice, and a booking the day before is guaranteed. Reschedule free more than two hours before pickup; after that, or for a no-show, the fee is $50.

We drive anywhere in Northern Virginia, the District, and Montgomery or Prince George’s County; DC and Maryland legs run under WMATC authority 3449 and Virginia legs under Virginia DMV Certificate #524.