How NEMT Transportation Brokers Work in Florida (And Why You Cannot Book Covered Trips Directly)

If you rely on non-emergency medical transportation to get to your appointments, you have probably run into some confusion about how the whole thing is set up. Why can you not just call the transportation company and book a ride? Why does everything have to go through your insurance? And what do you do when a provider does not show up?

We hear these questions often, so we wanted to walk through how the system actually works in Florida.

Providers do not bill your insurance directly

In Florida, transportation providers like Skyline do not bill Medicaid or Medicare Advantage plans directly. Instead, your transportation benefit is administered through a transportation broker. The broker is the company that manages, coordinates, and pays for your covered trips on behalf of your insurance plan.

The broker you use depends on your specific plan. Common brokers in our area include Alivi Health, MTM, and Modivcare. For example, if you have a Humana plan, Humana may contract with Alivi Health to manage your transportation benefit. In that case, you would schedule your trip through Alivi, and Alivi would assign the trip to one of the transportation providers in its network, such as Skyline Transport.

How the process works

Here is the basic flow behind every covered trip:

1. Your insurance plan pays the transportation broker.

2. The broker coordinates and assigns your trip to a provider in its network.

3. The broker pays the transportation provider.

Because of this arrangement, you cannot schedule covered insurance trips directly with the transportation provider. The broker is the one holding the contract with your plan and assigning the work, so your trip has to start with them.

What to do when a provider does not show up

Missed trips are frustrating, and unfortunately we hear about them more often than we would like. If a provider does not show up, the most important step is to report it to your transportation broker, whether that is Alivi Health, MTM, Modivcare, or another broker tied to your plan.

That feedback matters. When you report a no-show, the broker has a record of it, and that can help them avoid assigning that provider to you again.

How to request a preferred provider

Once you find a transportation company you trust, you do not have to leave it up to chance every time. You can ask your broker to make that company your preferred provider. Preferred provider requests cannot be guaranteed, but brokers will often try to honor them when possible. It is a simple ask that can make your future trips a lot more reliable.

If your plan is managed by Alivi Health, here is some good news: Skyline Transport is in network with Alivi, which means you can request us as your preferred provider. When you do, your trip request comes to us before it goes out to all the other providers in the system. If our schedule can accommodate it, we will take it. It is one of the easiest ways to get a company you trust on your future rides. In Alivi's system, we are registered as NDI Health Services and this is the name that you must request for our services.

We are here to help

Understanding the broker system takes some of the mystery out of the process, but you do not have to figure it out alone. If you have questions about your trips or how any of this works, give us a call at 800-515-8028 and select Option 2 to speak with one of our Client Experience Coordinators. We are always happy to help.

You can also learn more or request a quote at the links below:

Website: https://www.skylinetransportfl.com Request a private pay wheelchair transport quote: https://www.skylinetransportfl.com/wheelchairtransportquote