I Need Help With Transportation to Medical Appointments

Start With Someone Already Involved

Ask the clinic, hospital, hospice, dialysis center, cancer center, social worker, case manager, or discharge planner whether transportation is already being arranged.

Say:

“The person needs to get to [place] on [date]. They need [mobility, oxygen, supervision, or other assistance]. Who’s responsible for arranging the trip?”

Confirm who’s arranging it, whether it’s approved, the pickup window, the return plan, and who to call if the ride doesn’t arrive.

Find Out Where the Driver’s Help Begins and Ends

A transportation service may get the person from one address to another without helping them out of bed, down steps, into a wheelchair, through the clinic, or back into the house.

“What assistance does the driver provide?”

Don’t assume the driver can lift, transfer, supervise, or provide hands-on care. “Door-to-door” doesn’t always mean hands-on help.

If the person needs more help than the service provides, tell the care team before the trip. Say what you can and can’t do yourself.

The ride has to match the person, not just the destination. Don’t solve the trip there and forget the trip home.

If Stretcher or Medical Transport May Be Needed

Ask the care team what level of transportation is medically appropriate.

If the person can’t safely sit in a regular or wheelchair-accessible vehicle, ask whether non-emergency stretcher or ambulance transportation is needed and how it has to be arranged.

Ask who has to authorize it before you book. Medical necessity doesn’t automatically mean insurance or another benefit will pay.

Original Medicare may cover medically necessary non-emergency ambulance transportation in limited situations when other transportation could endanger the person’s health. Ask what documentation or order is required before the trip.

If Medicaid, a Medicare Plan, or VA May Help

Medicaid programs generally provide or arrange necessary transportation to covered medical care, but how the service works, what transportation is available, and how it must be booked vary by state.

Some Medicare Advantage plans also include rides to appointments. Ask the plan.

Ask the plan, transportation program, or VA care team:

“What has to happen for this trip to be approved and scheduled, and how far ahead do I need to book?”

Also ask:

• what type of vehicle is available
• whether another person may ride along
• how the return trip works

For Veterans, also ask whether the trip qualifies for VA Beneficiary Travel reimbursement or VA-arranged transportation.

See I Need Help Planning VA Care Before a Crisis →

If the Person Is Leaving a Hospital or Facility

Don’t accept “the family will transport” unless someone has agreed and the trip can be made safely.

Ask:

“What transportation has been arranged, and who will help the person from here to a safe place at home?”

Confirm:

• who’s providing the ride
• what vehicle is needed
• whether oxygen or equipment travels with them
• who helps them into the home
• whether stairs, locked doors, or an absent caregiver could make arrival unsafe

A discharge plan isn’t complete if the person can’t safely get home.

If Transportation Is Needed for Recurring Treatment

Dialysis, radiation, and other repeated treatments need a standing plan, not a new search before every appointment.

Tell the treatment center as soon as you can’t count on the ride.

“Who can help arrange transportation for the whole treatment schedule?”

Ask whether rides can be scheduled together, who to call when one fails, and whether treatment times can move to match available transportation.

If the ride fails, tell the treatment team before missing treatment.

If Ongoing Local Transportation Is Needed

Ask about paratransit, senior or disability transportation, treatment-center transportation, volunteer-driver programs, and Area Agency on Aging services.

Ask:

• how far ahead rides must be booked
• whether an application is required
• whether there’s a fare or copay
• whether the program pays directly or reimburses later
• whether a companion costs extra

A transportation benefit doesn’t always mean a free ride.

If No Ride Can Be Arranged

Tell the clinic or care team before you cancel or miss the appointment.

“Transportation is the reason this appointment can’t happen. What other way can this care be provided?”

Ask whether the visit can happen by phone or video, at a closer location, on another day, or through a service that comes to the home.

If the person is becoming too ill to travel safely for routine appointments, tell the care team and ask whether the current plan of care still fits what they can manage.

If the Ride Is Late or Doesn’t Come

Call the transportation company first:

“The ride for this appointment hasn’t arrived. Is the trip still active, and when will the vehicle be here?”

Then call the clinic or treatment team.