Almost anyone who can’t safely get to a medical appointment by car, taxi or bus qualifies for non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT). There is no single test: a wheelchair user, a patient going home from the hospital on a stretcher, someone who can’t drive after sedation and an older adult who has simply stopped driving can all book a ride. What changes from person to person is who pays (Medicaid, a health plan, a facility or the rider) and which level of service fits.
This guide walks through the medical situations that call for NEMT, how Medicaid eligibility works in Virginia, Maryland and DC, what private pay looks like, and how to tell which level of service you or your family member needs.
Who qualifies for NEMT? The short answer
If you pay privately, you qualify when you need a ride to or from a medical visit and don’t need medical care on the way. H&M Transport doesn’t ask for a doctor’s order to book a private-pay trip. We ask about how the rider moves (walks with help, stays in a wheelchair, or has to lie flat), the pickup and drop-off addresses, and the appointment time, and we match the trip to the right vehicle and crew.
If someone else is paying, that payer sets the rules:
- Medicaid generally covers rides to covered medical services for members who have no other way to get there. The state’s transportation broker confirms eligibility and approves each trip.
- Medicare Advantage and other health plans may include a ride benefit with their own limits on number of trips, distance and destinations.
- Hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers and hospices often arrange and pay for transport themselves, especially for discharges and transfers.
The one group NEMT is not for: anyone having a medical emergency. Chest pain, trouble breathing, signs of stroke, a serious fall or sudden confusion call for 911 and an ambulance, not a scheduled van.
Medical situations where NEMT makes sense
Most riders fall into a handful of situations. Many fit more than one.
You use a wheelchair and can’t transfer into a car
Folding a wheelchair into a trunk works until the transfer from chair to car seat becomes unsafe. For riders who need to stay seated in their own chair, a wheelchair transport van lets the chair roll up a ramp (on our minivans) or onto a hydraulic lift (on our full-size vans), where it is locked down with four-point securement and the rider wears a lap and shoulder belt. If you don’t own a wheelchair, or yours isn’t suited for travel, we can bring one at no extra cost.
You’re bedbound or can’t sit upright for the trip
Some riders can’t sit for the length of the drive: after a hip fracture, during late-stage illness, with a pressure wound, or because of weakness after a long hospital stay. Stretcher transport moves the rider bed to bed, lying down the whole way, with at least two crew members and a power-assisted cot on every trip. It’s the right fit for someone who is stable but can’t be moved safely any other way.
You can walk, but not alone
Plenty of riders don’t need a wheelchair at all. They need an arm to hold, someone to handle the steps at the front door, and a driver who waits until they’re inside. Ambulatory transport is door-through-door: the driver meets the rider inside the home or lobby, helps them to the vehicle, and walks them into the building at the other end. This is common for older adults with balance problems, people with low vision, and riders with memory loss who shouldn’t be dropped at a curb.
You’ve had sedation or anesthesia
Surgery centers and endoscopy suites won’t release a sedated patient to a taxi or rideshare driver traveling alone. They want a responsible person to receive the patient. If there’s no family member free that day, an NEMT ride that delivers the rider inside their home solves the problem. H&M Transport runs these trips after colonoscopies and endoscopies, cataract surgery, oral surgery and imaging under sedation. Confirm your facility’s release policy when you book so the crew knows what to expect.
You’re leaving the hospital or moving between facilities
Discharge day is one of the most common reasons families call us. A patient heading home, to rehab or to a nursing home may be too weak for the family car, or may be going home with a new wheelchair or oxygen. Hospital discharge transport covers those trips, along with stable, scheduled transfers between facilities such as hospital to rehab. NEMT does not handle urgent transfers from one hospital to another for a higher level of care; those need an ambulance.
You have recurring treatment
Dialysis three times a week, a course of radiation, chemotherapy cycles, wound care or cardiac rehab can add up to dozens of trips. Families often start out driving and find they can’t keep up. Dialysis transportation works on a standing order, so the same pickup times repeat without rebooking every week.
Your weight or size needs more room
Riders over 300 pounds, or who need a wider chair, ride in specialized vehicles with wider ramps and roomier interiors. We add a second crew member when the transfer or the route out of the home calls for it. See bariatric transport for how we plan these trips.
You just don’t drive anymore
Not every rider has a diagnosis that explains why they need help. Some older adults stop driving because of eyesight, slower reactions or a family’s quiet request. They can still walk and manage most of the day on their own, but they need a dependable ride to the cardiologist, the eye doctor or physical therapy. That’s a completely reasonable use of NEMT.
Medicaid eligibility for NEMT in Virginia, Maryland and DC
Medicaid covers rides to covered medical services for members who don’t have another way to get there. Each state runs its own program through contracted transportation brokers, and the broker, not the transportation company, decides whether a given trip is approved. Here is how it works in our service area.
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.
The broker will ask about the appointment, the address and the level of service you need, and may ask your doctor’s office to confirm the visit. Book as early as you can, since the broker sets its own notice requirements for routine appointments.
Maryland Medicaid
H&M Transport is not a Medicaid provider in Maryland. In Montgomery County, Medicaid rides go through the county Department of Transportation’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program. We still serve Maryland riders on private pay, through facilities, and through health plans whose ride benefit is administered by SafeRide Health (more on that below).
Washington, DC Medicaid
The only DC Medicaid plan H&M Transport serves is UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of the District of Columbia, through SafeRide Health. Members of that plan can book through the plan and ask for H&M Transport by name.
Health plans that use SafeRide Health
In Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and DC, riders whose plan’s ride benefit is administered by SafeRide Health can book through the plan and request H&M Transport by name. Check your member handbook or call the number on the back of your card to find out who handles your plan’s rides.
Does Medicare cover NEMT?
Original Medicare does not cover wheelchair van or stretcher van transportation. It covers ambulance transport, and Medicare’s own coverage page says it may pay for medically necessary, non-emergency ambulance transportation when you have a written order from your doctor. A wheelchair van or stretcher van is not an ambulance, so that coverage doesn’t apply.
Some Medicare Advantage plans include a transportation benefit, usually a set number of one-way rides per year to plan-approved medical destinations. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, call member services before you pay out of pocket; you may already have rides you haven’t used.
Paying privately for non-emergency medical transportation
Private pay is the simplest route. There’s no approval step, no broker and no limit on where you go, as long as it’s a trip we can safely provide. It’s also the only option for many families whose insurance doesn’t include rides, or who want a specific time and a specific provider.
H&M Transport charges the same private-pay rates in Virginia, Maryland and DC. A few common examples for 2026:
- A 10-mile wheelchair round trip (to an appointment and back) is $140: $55 per leg with five miles included in each leg, then $3.00 per mile.
- A 10-mile wheelchair one-way trip is $120: $90 plus $3.00 per mile.
- A 10-mile stretcher discharge is $300: $260 plus $4.00 per mile.
Add-ons like a stair chair team, after-hours pickups or prescheduled waiting time are listed with every other price on our rates page. If you have a flexible spending account or health savings account, ask your plan administrator whether medical transportation is an eligible expense; many families use those funds for rides.
Which level of service do you need?
The right level of service depends on how the rider moves on a normal day and how they’ll move on the day of the trip. Those aren’t always the same: someone who walks with a cane at home may need a wheelchair after a procedure.
- Ambulatory: the rider can walk, with or without a cane or walker, and can manage a few steps with help.
- Wheelchair: the rider can sit upright for the whole trip but shouldn’t transfer into a car seat, or needs to stay in a wheelchair.
- Stretcher: the rider must lie down, can’t sit safely for the trip, or can’t bear weight for a transfer.
- Bariatric: the rider weighs over 300 pounds or needs extra room, in either a wheelchair or on a stretcher.
A few details change the plan and are worth mentioning when you book:
- Stairs. If a wheelchair rider lives above or below street level with no elevator, we send a stair chair team. An ambulatory rider who can walk the steps with the driver’s help pays nothing extra.
- Oxygen. Riders can travel with their own oxygen, and we can supply tanks as an add-on.
- A companion. A family member or caregiver can usually ride along; tell us when you book.
- Memory loss or confusion. Let us know so the driver can plan to walk the rider in and hand off to a person, not leave them in a lobby.
If you’re unsure, describe the rider’s situation to dispatch and we’ll recommend a level of service. Discharge planners and nurses can also tell you what the care team expects.
What NEMT is not
Knowing where NEMT stops helps you book the right thing.
- It isn’t an ambulance. There’s no medical care or monitoring on board. Our crews are trained in safe transfers, securement and passenger assistance, not in treating patients during the ride.
- It never goes to an emergency room. If the rider needs the ER, call 911.
- It isn’t for unstable patients. A rider whose condition could change during the trip needs an ambulance crew.
If you’re not sure whether a rider is stable enough for a van, ask their doctor or nurse before booking.
How to book once you know you qualify
Private-pay riders and families can book online through our reservations page, through the H&M Transport app, or by calling dispatch at (703) 304-7889. Dispatch answers 24/7, holidays included.
- Book at least 24 hours ahead to guarantee availability.
- Same-day requests and discharges need at least three hours’ notice.
- Change or cancel at least two hours before pickup to avoid a fee.
- For return trips, we use a will-call window: call when the appointment ends, and our standard is to be there within 45 minutes. If you or the clinic can call a little before you’re done, we’ll start a driver your way. The earlier the call, the shorter the wait.
Hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers and hospices book on contracted rates. Case managers can learn more on our facility partnerships page.
H&M Transport has been driving patients since 2010 from our dispatch in Gainesville, Virginia, and was the first NEMT provider in Virginia to earn NEMTAC accreditation. Our fleet of more than 80 wheelchair vans covers Northern Virginia, Washington, DC and the Maryland suburbs of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. WMATC authority 3449 lets us carry riders across state lines within the Washington Metropolitan District.
Common questions
Do I need a doctor’s order to use NEMT?
Not for a private-pay trip with H&M Transport. Medicaid brokers and some health plans may confirm the appointment with your doctor’s office before approving a ride.
Can I use NEMT if I can walk?
Yes. Ambulatory riders who need help getting from the door to the vehicle and into the building qualify, and they ride in the same vans as the rest of our fleet.
Is H&M Transport a Maryland Medicaid provider?
No. In Montgomery County, Medicaid rides go through the county Department of Transportation’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program. Maryland riders can book with us privately, through a facility, or through a plan whose ride benefit is administered by SafeRide Health.
Does Medicare pay for wheelchair van rides?
Original Medicare does not. Some Medicare Advantage plans include a transportation benefit, so check with your plan.
Can NEMT take me to the emergency room?
No. NEMT never transports to an emergency room. For an emergency, call 911.
How far in advance should I book?
Book 24 hours ahead to guarantee a ride. We can often handle same-day trips and discharges with at least three hours’ notice.
Book a ride
If you or someone you care for needs a safe ride to a medical appointment, book online or call (703) 304-7889. Tell us how the rider gets around, and we’ll send ambulatory, wheelchair, stretcher or bariatric service to match.
