Utah program
Rides to treatment
Traditional Utah Medicaid can help you reach covered care when an appropriate ride is otherwise unavailable.
What it is
Traditional Utah Medicaid can help you reach covered care when an appropriate ride is otherwise unavailable.
Treatment travel can be expensive or difficult. Traditional Medicaid checks the need and suitable travel options. Overnight travel and an accompanying parent have separate approval rules.
Eligibility rules
- Your child needs Traditional Medicaid, covered care and no appropriate available transport. Public transit may be the first suitable option.
- Routine ModivCare booking uses three business days’ notice. Urgent transport within 24 hours may be available. Emergency care uses 911 rather than the routine ride service.
What you get
- Approved help with public transit, mileage or a ModivCare ride.
- An accompanying parent when the trip’s rules allow it.
- Conditional help with meals and lodging for approved overnight trips.
What the help includes
- An eligibility worker can approve one or two nights. Longer stays need DHHS approval at 844-238-3091. Overnight tests include travel over 100 miles with no return by 8 p.m., departure before 6:30 a.m., or medical necessity. Approval and receipt rules apply.
- If you drive, Medicaid pays 18 cents a mile, up to $300 a month, once the trip is approved.
If you decide to apply
- Contact ModivCare with your Medicaid number, clinic address, appointment date and time.
- Ask about repeat appointments and an escort place when arranging the trip.
- For an overnight or out-of-state trip, ask the eligibility worker which travel approvals and receipts are needed.
ModivCare: 1-855-563-4403 · Official page ↗
After you ask
- A confirmed pickup time identifies the arranged ride. If a trip is refused, Utah constituent services is available at 1-877-291-5583.
Good to know
Medicaid pays for a parent's hotel only when the child sleeps there too, so it does not cover nights while your child is an inpatient.
Other details
- Planned non-emergency out-of-state travel needs its own approval, separate from treatment. The team can identify the expedited route for an urgent need.
Official sources
“Could Medicaid rides work for our treatment schedule, including a parent traveling along? What are the limits for overnight trips, and could you help us arrange the right support?”
Why I’m asking: I want a reliable way to reach treatment without the travel costs taking over our budget.
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 three business days ahead with the appointment details.
Your social worker
The clinic can confirm appointment times to the broker.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- ModivCare arranges the ride under Utah Medicaid's contract.
- Ask the agency
- “My child is on Utah Medicaid and has chemotherapy appointments. Can I book standing rides, and can a parent ride as escort?”
How to apply
First step: Call ModivCare on 1-855-563-4403 and register, then book the next three appointments.
- Register with the ride line this week and book the next three appointments at once.
- If the trip needs an overnight stay, ask about food and lodging before you travel and keep receipts.
- If treatment is out of state, get the travel authorisation before the trip.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Call 1-855-563-4403 at least three business days before the appointment.
What to gather
- The Medicaid card
- Appointment dates, times and the clinic address
How long: Book three business days before each trip.
What a yes looks like
A confirmed pick-up time and a ride that arrives.
What a no looks like, and the next move
If a trip is refused, ask which rule it failed and ask the plan or the state's constituent services line on 1-877-291-5583.
Watch out
- Three business days' notice is the rule, so book the next few appointments at once.
- Lodging reimbursement needs the child to stay with the escort rather than in the hospital, so an inpatient admission is not covered this way.
- Out-of-state travel has to be authorised before you go.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Free door-to-door rides to Medicaid appointments, booked three business days ahead.
- $2 — Overnight stays an eligibility worker can approve
Covers: Door-to-door rides to covered appointments · An escort place for one parent or guardian · Conditional overnight food and lodging reimbursement with approval
What it costs the family: Nothing for the ride itself.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Income
- Utah Medicaid eligibility is the gate
- Residency
- Utah
- Other
- an escort can be reimbursed only when the child stays with the escort rather than in the treatment facility; receipts are required
- Processing standard
- book three business days ahead
Expect friction on: Rides have to be booked three business days ahead · Lodging money for an overnight stay needs approval, and the rates are not published
The trap: Book three business days ahead. For an overnight stay, an eligibility worker can approve two nights and more needs a separate authorisation; keep receipts, and note that reimbursement needs the child to stay with the escort rather than in the hospital.
Where I read this
- Utah Medicaid non-emergency transportation — Utah Department of Health and Human Services, read September 10, 2026
- Utah Medicaid Member Guide 2026 — Utah Department of Health and Human Services, read September 10, 2026
- Utah State Plan, Attachment 3.1-D — Utah Department of Health and Human Services, read September 10, 2026
- Utah Medicaid Managed Care — Utah Department of Health and Human Services, read September 10, 2026