Bluegrass Community Action Partnership (BGCAP) provider guide: Kentucky Medicaid rides in Region 8

BGCAP and the 11 counties of Region 8

BGCAP, the Blue Grass Community Action Partnership, holds the Medicaid ride brokerage for Region 8 of Kentucky’s Human Service Transportation Delivery (HSTD) program: Anderson, Boyle, Casey, Franklin, and Garrard counties, plus Jessamine, Lincoln, Mercer, Scott, Washington, and Woodford. The Cabinet’s list spells the name “Bluegrass,” while BGCAP’s own site and weather plan write “Blue Grass.”

The agency’s mailing address is 111 Professional Court in Frankfort. BGCAP’s website lists nine of the 11 counties for its programs, leaving out Casey and Washington, but the brokerage covers all 11. Beyond Medicaid, the 2026 directory entry adds Vocational Rehabilitation and Department for the Blind trips.

Every Kentucky subcontractor goes through the same statewide steps. The FTSB guide walks through them, and the Kentucky state guide names every region’s broker. The rest of this page is about Region 8.

Region 8 touches seven other regions and four brokers

Region 8 borders seven other HSTD regions, and four different brokers hold them: GRITS, LKLP, FTSB, and RTEC. A carrier near an edge can hold subcontracts on both sides of it.

All 11 counties keep Eastern time under 49 CFR 71.5(c), but the time zone line runs along Casey County’s western and southern edges. Adair County (Region 5) and Russell County (Region 12) are on Central time, so a pickup time written in local time near that line may be an hour apart from the clock on the other side.

Does BGCAP use outside carriers?

Yes. BGCAP’s fiscal 2027 weather plan, updated August 25, 2026, is addressed to BGCAP transit staff, health care facilities, and transportation providers, and it carries a separate notice for facilities and subcontracted providers.

The 2026 Kentucky Public Transit Association directory names two outside operators. Owen County Public Transit in Owenton lists itself as a subcontractor for the Region 8 and 9 brokers. Communicare, based in Elizabethtown, lists Regions 4 and 8, with Washington County among its service counties.

The same directory’s county list shows BGCAP as the only listed provider in six of Region 8’s counties: Anderson, Garrard, Jessamine, Mercer, Scott, and Woodford.

BGCAP’s own fleet and trips

BGCAP drives as well as brokers. The directory describes 147 wheelchair-accessible vehicles and one SUV. The Cabinet’s asset plan, revised August 25, 2026, carries 192 BGCAP vehicle records: 149 cutaway buses, 24 minivans, 17 vans, and 2 SUVs.

BGCAP’s site gives these figures for fiscal 2023-2024:

• Medicaid trips. 186,002, over 2,031,932 miles of Medicaid-related driving.
• Public transportation trips. 48,362.
• All transportation rides. 308,906.
• People served. 14,652 individuals through its transportation services.

Dividing the Medicaid miles by the Medicaid trips gives about 11 miles a trip, below the 12.8-mile statewide average in the Cabinet’s fiscal 2023 report.

BGCAP also runs Bluegrass RIDE, a public service in Danville, Georgetown, and Nicholasville that costs $1 a ride with one free transfer. A regional Bluegrass RIDE route links Danville, Nicholasville, and Lexington on weekdays for $5 each way and stops at UK Chandler Hospital Pavilion A.

How do Region 8 riders book?

BGCAP lists one number for Medicaid scheduling, 800-456-6588, which is also the toll-free broker number on the Cabinet’s list. BGCAP says Medicaid transportation runs from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, and that rides must be scheduled in advance. The state’s 72-hour notice rule applies, with the urgent care exceptions described in the Kentucky state guide.

BGCAP’s site lists its Frankfort office at 502-695-4290, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which is a different number from the ride line.

How does BGCAP handle bad weather?

BGCAP decides on Limited Service or No Service and announces it by 6:00 a.m. on WKYT, channel 27, and on the Blue Grass Community Action Partnership Facebook page. The August 25, 2026 plan defines the two:

• Limited Service. BGCAP Transit runs as roads allow. Delays are possible, and every trip other than urgent care will probably be affected.
• No Service. BGCAP Transit does not operate.

Bluegrass RIDE routes follow road conditions in the same way. The plan tells facilities and subcontracted providers to leave a message if the call goes to voicemail, and to call 800-456-6588 if their program follows a closing policy of its own. A carrier working for BGCAP should keep its own storm rules in line with these, and the bad weather policy guide shows how to write them.

What does Region 8 pay?

Region 8 sits at $7.95 per member per month in the November 2025 briefing to lawmakers, the fifth-lowest capitation rate of the 15 regions. That payment is BGCAP’s income, not your trip rate, and the Kentucky Medicaid rates guide lists every region’s figure.

How does a carrier join BGCAP?

Call 502-695-4290 or 800-456-6588 after the Division of Motor Carriers issues your Taxi or Disabled Persons Vehicle certificate. BGCAP’s weather plan comes from its HSTD compliance coordinator, so ask for that role, and ask which certificate types and counties BGCAP needs covered.

The approval that follows, from vehicle inspection to the signed Medicaid enrollment form, is the same in every region and is set out step by step in the FTSB guide. The Cabinet must approve the subcontract before it starts.

Contacts

• BGCAP office: 111 Professional Court, Frankfort, KY 40601, 502-695-4290 or 800-456-6571, fax 502-695-1075.
• Medicaid ride line (riders): 800-456-6588.
• Division of Motor Carriers (operating authority): 502-564-1257.
• Cabinet hotline for denials and complaints: 1-888-941-7433.

Running Region 8 return trips in HealthRide

A return trip from a Lexington appointment may have no set pickup time. HealthRide keeps a flexible return on the dispatch board until the passenger is ready, then activates it. With every vehicle on the live map, dispatch can see who is nearest when the call comes in.