The short answer
If you are enrolled in Minnesota Medical Assistance and you have no other way to get to a covered medical appointment, your ride is free. It is arranged through the state's non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) programme, not through the clinic and not through a transport company you pick yourself.
This article explains how to use it. We are a transport company and we do not bill this programme — we are telling you about it because if you qualify, it costs you nothing and it is the right answer.
Who qualifies
Minnesota's NEMT benefit is generally available to people who are:
- Enrolled in Medical Assistance (Minnesota's Medicaid programme)
- Enrolled in state-funded Medical Assistance while residing in an Institution for Mental Diseases
- A MinnesotaCare enrollee under age 21
- Pregnant and enrolled in MinnesotaCare
- Enrolled in Refugee Medical Assistance
On top of being enrolled, two conditions apply:
- You must be travelling to a covered medical service. A ride to a pharmacy or a social visit is not the same thing as a ride to a covered appointment.
- You must have no other way to get there. This is the condition people trip over. If you can drive yourself, or a friend, neighbour, relative or volunteer organisation can take you for free, you are not eligible for a ride. You may still be eligible for mileage reimbursement for the person driving you, which is worth asking about.
Who to call
In the Twin Cities metro, non-emergency medical transportation for Medical Assistance members is coordinated by MTM, on 866-436-0457. They arrange the trip and assign a transport provider.
Coverage of the state programme is organised by county and not every Minnesota county is served the same way, so if you are outside the core metro it is worth confirming your county's arrangement with your county human services office or the Minnesota Department of Human Services before assuming.
How to book, and the mistakes that cost people rides
Call at least three business days ahead
Three business days, which is the part that catches people. A Monday appointment needs to be booked by the previous Wednesday, and a holiday week pushes it further. Same-day and next-day requests will usually not be accommodated except in specific urgent circumstances.
Have the details ready before you dial
You will be asked for your Medical Assistance ID, the appointment date and time, the full address of the clinic, the name of the provider you are seeing, and whether you need a return trip. Having this to hand turns a fifteen-minute call into a five-minute one.
Be ready fifteen minutes early
Pickup windows are not exact. Being ready fifteen minutes before your scheduled time is the standard expectation, and a driver who arrives to no answer may record a no-show.
Book the return leg at the same time
Trips can be arranged one-way or round-trip. Arranging the return at the point of booking avoids the situation where the appointment finishes and there is no ride home in the system.
What if you do not qualify?
Plenty of people do not, and it is usually for one of these reasons.
- You are on Medicare, not Medical Assistance. Original Medicare does not cover routine rides at all — see does Medicare cover rides to medical appointments.
- You have private insurance without a transport benefit. Most commercial plans do not include one.
- Someone could technically drive you. The rule is about availability, not willingness, and it does not account for a family member burning through annual leave to cover dialysis runs.
- You want to choose your own provider. Through the state programme, you do not.
In those cases you are looking at private-pay transport, a facility-arranged account, or family.
Where Mediride fits
Mediride is a Minnesota STS-certified ambulatory transport provider (certificate #385451) covering the Twin Cities seven-county metro: Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Anoka, Washington, Scott and Carver.
Two things stated plainly:
We do not bill Medical Assistance. If you qualify for the state programme, call 866-436-0457 rather than us — it is free and we are not.
We transport ambulatory passengers only. If you use a wheelchair or need a stretcher, we are not certified for that and we will point you to a provider who is.
Where we make sense: you do not qualify for the free programme, or you need a ride sooner than three business days' notice allows, or you want a scheduled arrangement with a provider you can call directly. We work on private pay and on invoiced accounts for healthcare facilities. Call (612) 888-1188.
Frequently asked
Is the state NEMT ride actually free?
Yes — for eligible Medical Assistance members travelling to covered services, there is no cost to the member.
Can I choose which company picks me up?
No. The broker assigns the transport provider.
What if my appointment is tomorrow?
The three-business-day rule will usually rule out the state programme. Call them anyway and ask, because urgent circumstances are handled differently — and if the answer is no, private pay is the fallback.
Can someone ride with me?
Escort and attendant policies vary by programme and by trip. Ask when you book rather than turning up with an extra passenger.