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

Childhood Cancer Lantern
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South Carolina program

Free rides to treatment

Healthy Connections provides free rides to covered medical appointments through its transport broker.

What it is

Healthy Connections provides free rides to covered medical appointments through its transport broker.

Repeated trips for treatment can become expensive or hard to arrange. Medicaid transport can help a child reach covered appointments. A parent’s travel and overnight stays need their own approval.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must have Healthy Connections and a covered appointment.
  • The state decides whether an escort is medically necessary, efficient and cost-effective.
What you get
  • Free rides to and from covered appointments.
  • Approved lodging and meals when the trip meets the state’s rules.
What the help includes
  • Routine trips normally require at least three business days’ notice. A clinician can explain a same-day or next-day urgent need to the broker; the broker should confirm the advance-booking window for the appointment.
  • Lodging and meals for the child and an approved escort can be authorized for treatment inside or outside South Carolina, but the arrangements or reimbursement must be approved in advance by the broker or SCDHHS. Your social worker can help check the covered people, dates, amounts and receipts before travel.
If you decide to apply
  1. Contact the booking line for your county’s region with your child’s Medicaid number and appointment details.
  2. Ask whether you can travel as the approved escort and whether a distant trip includes lodging or meals.

Upstate 866-910-7688 · Midlands 866-445-6860 · Pee Dee and Lowcountry 866-445-9954 · Official page ↗

If you decide to go ahead
  • The booking confirmation gives a trip number and pickup time.
  • Modivcare lists reservations at 866-910-7688 for Region 1, 866-445-6860 for Region 2 and 866-445-9954 for Region 3. Your social worker can check the county list and current booking route at mymodivcare.com/members/sc/.
Good to know

A parent is not automatically approved as an escort. Lodging and meals need approval before travel.

Other details
  • Your social worker can help confirm the current broker, county region and trip arrangements. Routine trips normally need three business days’ notice. The broker confirms urgent trips and how far ahead an appointment can be booked.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could the broker cover our treatment trips, and could I travel with my child? Could you help check any lodging or meal approval before we make arrangements?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand what travel costs Medicaid can cover.

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

Call the regional number with the appointment dates, at least three business days ahead.

Your social worker

The clinic can confirm the appointment times the broker asks for.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The transport broker arranges it under the Medicaid benefit.
Ask the agency
“My child is on Healthy Connections and has treatment appointments. I want to book rides for the next few weeks, and I want to ask about being approved as the escort.”

How to apply

First step: Call your region's booking number: 866-910-7688 in the Upstate, 866-445-6860 in the Midlands, 866-445-9954 for the Pee Dee and Lowcountry.

  1. Call the booking number for your region and set up the whole run of appointments at once, up to 30 days ahead.
  2. Ask whether a parent is approved as an escort, and get that in writing.
  3. If a trip is out of the area, ask about lodging and meals before you travel, because they have to be approved first.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Call the booking number for your county's region at least three business days ahead.

What to gather

  • The Healthy Connections number
  • The appointment dates, times and addresses
  • The name of the clinic and the doctor

How long: Three business days is the minimum notice; you can book up to 30 days ahead.

What a yes looks like

A confirmed trip number and a pick-up time.

What a no looks like, and the next move

If a trip is refused, ask why in writing and tell the oncology social worker the same day.

Watch out

  • Three business days is the handbook's figure; the webpage's looser wording is not worth the risk.
  • Lodging and meals have to be approved before you travel, and the amount is decided case by case.
  • A parent travelling as an escort is approved by the state, not automatic.

Dates that change this

2026-03-01: The March 2026 handbook names ModivCare as the transport broker. The contract's start and any transition date were not published, so check who answers when you call. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Free rides to appointments, booked at least three business days ahead on the number for your region.

  • $3 — Business days' notice to book a ride

Covers: Rides to and from covered appointments · Prior-approved lodging and meals for a member and an approved escort, in state and out of state

Legal protection: Transport is a Medicaid benefit, not a favour

What it costs the family: No cost for a covered ride.

The eligibility facts, as published

Coverage
the child must be on Healthy Connections
Notice
at least three business days, and up to 30 days, before the appointment
Escort
an escort can travel when the state decides it is efficient, cost-effective and medically necessary; it is not automatic
Lodging meals
prior-approved arrangements only; amounts decided case by case, and no published dollar schedule was found

The trap: Book at least three business days ahead, and up to 30 days ahead. The state webpage says three days; the handbook says three business days, which is the safer one to plan around. Urgent trips are sometimes taken with less notice, but that is the broker's discretion rather than a right.

Where I read this

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