How to become a Call the Car transportation provider in 2026
To become a Call the Car transportation provider, apply as a vehicle subcontractor on its Join Our Network page. The form asks for your service counties, NPI, Medi-Cal provider number and status, permits, dispatch software, driver and vehicle counts, and levels of service. A representative follows up, you book a credentialing vehicle inspection, and once contracted you work trips through its subcontractor portal. Its plan clients are all in California.
On this page
Who Call the Car is
Call the Car is a California healthcare transportation company that manages NEMT and non-medical transportation for health plans, medical groups, and regional centers. Dr. Michelle Tyson, a physician who is still its CEO, founded it to close a gap that kept patients from reaching their medical appointments. The company is woman-owned, holds minority-owned certification, and is NEMTAC accredited.
Call the Car is part broker and part fleet. It runs its own owned and operated vehicles, and it fills the rest of its trips through a network of subcontracted transportation companies. That is the network you would join. Its own vans are GPS tracked, ADA compliant, and in some cases wrapped in a client plan’s branding.
Its service list runs from mileage reimbursement and public transit through ambulatory curb-to-curb and door-to-door, wheelchair, gurney, basic and advanced life support, specialty care transport, and air ambulance. It also helps plans and practices with physician certification statement (PCS) paperwork, which Medi-Cal requires for NEMT.
Where Call the Car operates in 2026
All of Call the Car’s listed clients are in California. Medi-Cal managed care plans each choose their own broker, so a fleet in Los Angeles or the Inland Empire can take Call the Car trips for one plan and another broker’s trips for the next.
| Client | Programs Call the Car handles |
|---|---|
| L.A. Care Health Plan | Medi-Cal, Medicare D-SNP, and Covered California members |
| Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan | Medi-Cal |
| Blue Shield of California | Medicare |
| Central California Alliance for Health | Medi-Cal |
| Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) | Non-medical transportation only, since IEHP began arranging all NEMT itself in May 2026 |
| AppleCare Medical Group | Medical group members |
| Heritage Victor Valley Medical Group | Medical group members |
| San Diego Regional Center | Regional center clients |
L.A. Care describes Call the Car as its partner for transportation services. Other large Medi-Cal plans use different vendors. Health Net uses Modivcare, and Molina uses American Logistics. The California guide maps each plan.
How to become a Call the Car transportation provider
Call the Car calls its network providers vehicle subcontractors.
- Apply as a vehicle subcontractor. The form on the Join Our Network page asks for your company and owner details, business address, hours of operation, primary state, counties and cities served, languages spoken, whether you are a diversely owned company, your NPI, your State Medicaid or Medi-Cal ID, whether you are an approved Medi-Cal provider (Yes, No, or Pending), the permits you hold, the dispatch software you use, your total drivers and vehicles, and your levels of service.
- Talk with a representative. Once the form is in, someone from Call the Car reaches out about next steps.
- Book the credentialing inspection. Call the Car runs an online booking page for credentialing vehicle inspections.
- Register on the subcontractor portal. Registration takes an invitation code from Call the Car, plus your NPI and Tax ID, so this step comes after you are approved.
Our broker credentialing guide lists the driver, vehicle, and insurance documents most brokers ask for during step 3.
Call the Car requirements
Call the Car’s application is built around California’s own rules. Two of its questions carry the most weight.
- Medi-Cal status. Medi-Cal plans pay only for trips by providers the state allows. The form asks for your Medi-Cal ID and whether your enrollment is approved or pending. Our California guide covers DHCS enrollment and the vehicle inspection rules.
- Permits. The form asks which permits you hold. The California guide explains when a CPUC passenger carrier permit applies to a NEMT fleet.
Levels of service matter for which trips you get. The form offers six: ambulatory, wheelchair, gurney, and three ambulance levels (basic life support, advanced life support, and specialty or critical care transport). Only list the ones your vehicles, drivers, and licenses support.
Call the Car runs a compliance hotline for reporting privacy concerns, fraud, waste, or abuse: (844) 595-3256, or online at callthecar.ethicspoint.com.
How trips reach you
Once contracted, you work in Call the Car’s Subcontractor Interactive Portal. Call the Car tracks trips by GPS with real-time data, and it uses that data to monitor pickups and reassign trips when necessary.
Plan rules shape the work. Medi-Cal NEMT requires a PCS form signed by the member’s provider, and each plan sets its own timing. IEHP asks for the PCS before the ride request and accepts it for 12 months from the transportation start date. L.A. Care asks for the PCS within 24 hours of the trip, and it does not require one for a transfer from an emergency room to an inpatient bed or a discharge from an acute stay to a skilled nursing facility. Non-medical trips, which Call the Car still runs for IEHP, are rides by car or bus that do not need a PCS. See non-medical transportation for how NMT differs.
Members and facilities book with Call the Car by phone or through its CTC-Go app. Each plan has its own reservation and ride assist line, most staffed 24 hours a day.
How Call the Car pays subcontractors
Rates, billing steps, and payment timing for subcontractors are set in your subcontractor agreement. Call the Car describes its client pricing as performance-based. Ask for the rate sheet by level of service and county, the billing deadline, and the payment schedule before you sign.
Keep your own trip record for every ride: arrival time, pickup time, drop-off time, and the rider’s signature. A clean record is what settles a disputed or reassigned trip.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- May 2026. Inland Empire Health Plan starts arranging all NEMT trips for its members itself. Call the Car keeps IEHP’s non-medical trips.
For subcontractors serving IEHP members, that means IEHP wheelchair, gurney, and other NEMT work no longer comes through Call the Car.
Call the Car provider contacts
- New subcontractors: the application on Call the Car’s Join Our Network page
- General inquiries: the contact form on callthecar.com, answered within two business days
- IEHP non-medical rides: 1-855-673-3195, 24 hours a day
- L.A. Care Medi-Cal line: 888-839-9909
Where software helps
With trips moving between plans and brokers, your own records keep the story straight. HealthRide’s driver app timestamps each pickup and drop-off, records GPS miles, captures signatures on screen, and keeps the recorded wait time on no-shows. The trip log exports as CSV or PDF from reports.
Frequently asked questions
- Which health plans does Call the Car serve?
- Call the Car lists L.A. Care Health Plan (Medi-Cal, Medicare D-SNP, and Covered California), Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan, Blue Shield of California Medicare, Central California Alliance for Health, Inland Empire Health Plan, AppleCare Medical Group, Heritage Victor Valley Medical Group, and San Diego Regional Center.
- Does Call the Car still handle IEHP rides?
- Only non-medical rides. Since May 2026, Inland Empire Health Plan arranges all of its members' NEMT trips itself. Call the Car keeps IEHP's NMT trips, which are rides by car or bus, and IEHP members book those with Call the Car at 1-855-673-3195.
- Is Medi-Cal enrollment required before applying to Call the Car?
- No. The form lets you mark your Medi-Cal approval as Yes, No, or Pending, and it also asks for your State Medicaid or Medi-Cal ID and the permits you hold. Plan on finishing Medi-Cal enrollment before you run Medi-Cal trips. Our California guide covers the DHCS steps.
- Does Call the Car run its own vehicles?
- Yes. Call the Car runs an owned and operated fleet alongside its network of subcontracted vehicles. Its own vans carry GPS tracking, meet ADA requirements, and can be wrapped in a client health plan's branding.
