What is a medicar in Illinois Medicaid?
A medicar is Illinois Medicaid's wheelchair van category. It carries a rider who has to stay in a wheelchair, rides up on a lift or ramp, and is locked down in the van, with no medical observation, equipment, medications, or oxygen needed. HFS's January 1, 2026 schedule pays a fee-for-service medicar trip a $30.00 base (A0130) plus $0.80 to $1.61 per loaded mile, by county.
On this page
Medicar and service car
Illinois Medicaid names its transportation categories in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 140.490, and two of them cover most NEMT work:
- Medicar (written “medi-car” in the rule). The rider is confined to a wheelchair, boards on a hydraulic or electric lift or ramp, and rides with the chair locked down. Nothing about the trip calls for medical observation, supervision, equipment, medications, or oxygen. The Illinois Secretary of State licenses the vehicle.
- Service car. A regular passenger vehicle for a rider who needs less than a medicar and far less than an ambulance. The Secretary of State licenses it as a livery car, and some towns add their own license.
Neither category may ever be billed as an emergency. Ambulances, helicopters, taxis, and private autos make up the rest of the list, along with buses, trains, commercial airplanes, and transportation network companies. In managed long-term services and supports billing, medicar is category of service 052 and service car is 054.
Sending more vehicle than the rider needs costs you the payment. The HFS handbook names a medicar used where a service car was warranted as an example of a medically inappropriate, non-covered trip.
2026 fee-for-service rates
The fee schedule effective January 1, 2026 sets county groups for mileage. Base rates and attendants are the same statewide.
| Code | Service | Cook and collar counties (DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will) | Madison and St. Clair | All other counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A0130 | Medicar base | $30.00 | $30.00 | $30.00 |
| A0425 | Medicar loaded mile | $1.03 | $1.61 | $0.80 |
| T2001 | Medicar attendant | $20.00 | $20.00 | $20.00 |
| T2001 TK | Additional attendant | $20.00 | $20.00 | $20.00 |
| T2005 | Stretcher use (medicar column) | $9.31 | $11.64 | $11.64 |
| A0120 | Service car base | $20.00 | $20.00 | $20.00 |
| A0425 | Service car loaded mile | $1.03 | $1.61 | $0.80 |
How the rates apply, under 89 Ill. Adm. Code 140.492 and the HFS handbook:
- Lesser of two amounts. HFS pays the schedule rate or the price you normally charge the general public, whichever is lower.
- County of the vehicle. The base rate follows the county where the vehicle is based, not where the rider lives.
- Loaded miles only. Since July 1, 2006, the base no longer includes the first ten miles, and every mile with the rider aboard is paid. Unloaded miles, waiting time, tolls, and parking are not.
- Several riders. The first Medicaid rider on a trip pays the full rate with mileage. Each additional rider pays the base and any ancillaries only.
- Attendants. On a single medicar trip you can be paid for a staff attendant and a family or other non-staff attendant together, once prior approval covers them.
No-show trips are not paid. These rates are for fee-for-service trips billed to HFS. Our Illinois Medicaid rates guide covers ambulance and taxi codes as well.
Rules for running medicar trips
- Prior approval. The fee schedule states that all non-emergency transportation needs prior approval. For fee-for-service trips, HFS contracts with Transdev, and requests are due at least seven business days before the trip.
- Physician Certification Statement. Any non-emergency trip that starts at a hospital or long-term care facility needs form HFS 2270. For repeat medicar or service car rides, one form stays valid as long as 180 days, but a PCS written for a discharge covers only that day. This applies to fee-for-service and HealthChoice Illinois plan members.
- Safety training. Drivers and employee attendants complete HFS-approved safety training before their first trip and every three years. Providers receiving federal transit funds under sections 5307 or 5311 are exempt during the funded period, and since January 1, 2022, IDPH-licensed medicar and service car providers can train in-house once HFS approves their curriculum.
- Your own fleet. The vehicle has to be owned or leased by the provider and driven by it, or HFS will not pay.
- Stretcher work. Billing a stretcher from a medicar requires an IDPH stretcher van license and a vehicle that meets 77 Ill. Adm. Code 515, including a primary wheeled litter no shorter than 75 inches.
The Illinois state guide covers enrollment, managed care plans, and startup steps.
HealthRide’s trip log records the driver, vehicle, and GPS-recorded miles for each leg of a medicar trip, and it exports from Reports when HFS or a plan asks to see the trip.
Frequently asked questions
- Medicar or service car: what separates the two?
- The rider. A medicar is for a person who travels seated in their wheelchair, loaded by lift or ramp and locked down. A service car is an ordinary livery-licensed car for a rider whose needs fall below both ambulance and medicar. The base rates differ too: $30.00 for a medicar (A0130) and $20.00 for a service car (A0120) under the January 1, 2026 schedule, with the same mileage rate in each county group.
- Can a medicar carry a stretcher rider in Illinois?
- Yes, if the provider also holds an Illinois Department of Public Health stretcher van license. HFS covers stretcher use in a medicar when the rider needs no paramedics, EMTs, medical equipment, drugs, or oxygen, and the fee schedule lists a T2005 stretcher line in the medicar columns. The vehicle then has to meet the stretcher van rules in 77 Ill. Adm. Code 515.
- Do medicar drivers need special training?
- Yes. Medicar, service car, and taxi drivers, along with employee attendants, must finish an HFS-approved safety training program before their first Medicaid trip and renew it every three years. If a provider cannot show the certificates, HFS recovers every payment for trips run by an uncertified driver or attendant.
