Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Hawaii program

Rides, flights and lodging for treatment (QUEST transport)

Your child’s QUEST plan can arrange travel to covered medical care, including approved trips between islands.

What it is

Your child’s QUEST plan can arrange travel to covered medical care, including approved trips between islands.

Treatment on another island can bring costs far beyond the appointment itself. The QUEST plan coordinates covered travel and decides what accompanying-parent help it can cover. Flights need the plan’s care navigator, not just the car-ride line.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must have Med-QUEST, through QUEST Integration or fee-for-service, and travel for covered care.
  • Mainland care and travel need the appropriate Med-QUEST approvals. After SHOTT approval, the QUEST contract provides for a move to Medicaid fee-for-service. The team must confirm who approves and pays each part of the trip. A seven-day service decision does not guarantee that the center, flights and lodging are arranged.
What you get
  • Covered rides and approved inter-island or mainland flights.
  • An approved escort, with meals and lodging under the travel rules.
  • Reimbursement of approved meal expenses under your plan’s age and trip rules.
What the help covers
  • On HMSA, meals are paid back afterwards from receipts: up to $30 a day each for anyone 10 or older on an overnight trip, $15 for younger children or a day trip. Other plans set their own amounts.
  • A trip to another island can include one parent's flight, meals and a place to stay, when approved in advance.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask your QUEST plan’s care navigator to coordinate flights and an escort with the treatment calendar.
  2. For local rides, contact the transport service named by your plan. Explain that the visit is for cancer treatment.
  3. Ask what the plan pays for meals and lodging, and keep receipts for any agreed reimbursement.

Your child’s QUEST plan; plan-specific transport numbers appear in the details. · Official page ↗

What happens next
  • Booking notice varies by plan and trip. HMSA’s June 2026 guide requests two business days for ground rides and seven business days for air travel, with exceptions including urgent care, discharge, chemotherapy and radiation. Your social worker can ask your child’s own plan how soon travel can be arranged and what approval is needed.
Good to know

Flights need about a week's notice, car rides two working days. Each plan sets its own meal and lodging amounts, so ask yours before booking anything.

Other details
  • AlohaCare/Transdev: 1-877-973-0712. HMSA/Modivcare: 1-800-440-0640. Kaiser/MTM: 1-855-735-1226.
  • Ohana/Modivcare: 1-888-846-4262; direct booking: 1-866-790-8858. UnitedHealthcare/MTM: 1-888-777-3844.
  • Kaiser QUEST serves Oahu and Maui only.
  • Your child’s plan confirms travel approval, escort, onsite or offsite lodging, receipt forms and reimbursement deadlines. HMSA’s June 2026 guide generally allows one adult escort for a minor. Its Kapi’olani onsite-parent lodging rule and offsite exceptions apply to HMSA, not every plan. Approval is needed before relying on reimbursement for self-booked travel.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the QUEST plan cover the travel our child needs, including a parent coming along? What costs remain, and could you help arrange the trip through the right person?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand the whole trip cost before we book travel for treatment.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Book early, ask for the escort, and keep receipts for meals.

Your social worker

The hospital social worker tells the plan the treatment calendar so rides and flights are booked as a block.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The QUEST health plan and its transport broker.
Ask your social worker
“We live on another island. Can you help the health plan book the flights and an escort for the whole treatment block, and tell me what meals and lodging are covered?”

How to apply

First step: Call your health plan’s transport line this week and give them the whole treatment calendar, not just the next appointment.

  1. Call your plan’s transport number and set up standing rides for the treatment calendar.
  2. For a flight to Oahu, ask the plan to book it and to add an escort for one parent.
  3. Keep every meal receipt: the money is reimbursed, not advanced.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Call your plan’s transport number. For a flight, ask the plan’s care navigator to start it, not the ride line.

What to gather

  • Your QUEST plan card
  • the appointment schedule
  • the treating clinic’s address on Oahu

How long: Plan-specific booking applies. HMSA requests two business days for ground and seven business days for air, with exceptions. A service-decision clock does not promise that center acceptance, travel and lodging are arranged.

What a yes looks like

Booked flights and rides with an escort seat, and a reimbursement form for meals.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask which rule was applied, name the chemotherapy exception, and appeal to the plan on 808-692-8094.

Watch out

  • HMSA requests seven business days for air travel, with specified exceptions; other plans confirm their own booking requirements.
  • HMSA lists chemotherapy and radiation notice exceptions. The child’s own plan confirms whether an exception applies.
  • Kaiser’s QUEST plan covers Oahu and Maui only, which matters if you live on another island.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Approved rides and flights can include an escort, lodging and meals under the child’s plan rules. HMSA’s meal caps are $30 or $15 by age and trip type, reimbursed for approved actual expenses with receipts.

  • $30 — HMSA meal allowance, ages 10 and over, trip of two days or more
  • $15 — HMSA meal allowance, same-day trip, ages 10 and over
  • $15 — HMSA meal allowance, child aged nine or under
  • $1 — HMSA Kapiolani onsite accommodation for an approved accompanying parent
  • $48 — General booking notice on the state page
  • $7 — HMSA air-booking notice, June 2026; specified exceptions apply

Covers: Ground rides to appointments · Inter-island and mainland flights arranged by the health plan · An escort travelling with the child · Meals and lodging while receiving authorised care, with one attendant out of state

Legal protection: Chemotherapy and radiation are listed among the HMSA categories needing no advance notice

What it costs the family: No charge for approved travel. Meals are reimbursed against receipts, not paid up front.

The eligibility facts, as published

Coverage
enrolled in Med-QUEST (QUEST Integration or fee-for-service)
Scope
rides, inter-island and out-of-state travel the plan arranges; meals and lodging while receiving authorised care, with one attendant out of state
Authorization
Treatment and travel approvals are separate from arranging the full trip. After SHOTT approval, the team confirms the transition to Medicaid fee-for-service and who approves and pays each service.
Plans
AlohaCare (Transdev) 1-877-973-0712; HMSA (Modivcare) 1-800-440-0640; Kaiser (MTM) 1-855-735-1226, QUEST on Oahu or Maui only; Ohana (Modivcare) 1-888-846-4262, direct booking 1-866-790-8858; UnitedHealthcare (MTM) 1-888-777-3844

The trap: Notice varies by plan and trip. HMSA’s June 2026 guide requests two business days for ground rides and seven business days for air travel, with urgent care, discharge, chemotherapy and radiation exceptions. The child’s plan confirms its own rule.

Where I read this

← Back to your options