Cascades West Ride Line provider guide: OHP rides in Linn, Benton, and Lincoln counties

Ride Line in brief

Cascades West Ride Line is part of the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments (OCWCOG), an intergovernmental agency that carries out local, state, and federal programs for its member governments and for residents of Benton, Lincoln, and Linn counties. InterCommunity Health Network CCO (IHN-CCO) partners with Ride Line to manage and provide all non-emergent medical transportation for its members, and every ride needs Ride Line’s prior approval.

Its advisory committee materials say rides are arranged through locally contracted providers, and that ride availability depends on how many providers there are. For a transportation company, that means the brokerage’s capacity is its provider network.

Requests for same-day, next-day, weekend, and holiday rides, and for mileage, have to be phoned in. Ride Line’s page tells members that same-day rides are not guaranteed and depend on where drivers are and whether any are free.

Who Ride Line serves

In April 2025 Ride Line staff also named Samaritan Advantage Health Plan and Benton County Veterans Services among its main funding sources. Full-benefit dual members of IHN-CCO can also ride to Medicare-covered visits. OHA’s notice, updated August 7, 2026, says all Healthier Oregon members move from CCOs to open card in January 2027, which includes those enrolled in IHN-CCO. Ride Line also books open card rides in Benton, Lincoln, and Linn, so those riders keep the same brokerage. The Oregon state guide lists the ride services for the other regions.

Ride Line’s trips in numbers

Ride Line’s quarterly reports to its advisory committee show the shape of the work. In the fourth quarter of 2025 it scheduled 71,891 rides and provided transportation in 21 Oregon counties and 3 in Washington. Linn County accounted for the most, 33,274.

Short-notice requests never stop. From July through December 2025, same-day requests ran 1,099 to 1,421 a month and next-day requests 1,864 to 2,245. The monthly trip status report also showed 390 to 476 member no-shows and 386 to 498 cancellations made at the door.

Most of the leading trip purposes are visits that repeat. From April through June 2026 the top ten were:

1. Substance use disorder treatment, 9,453 trips (21 percent)
2. Mental health, 6,137 (14 percent)
3. Dialysis, 4,252 (10 percent)
4. Primary care follow-up, 3,111 (7 percent)
5. Specialty care, 2,705 (6 percent)
6. Other, 2,473 (6 percent)
7. Physical therapy, 2,341 (5 percent)
8. Dental, 1,920 (4 percent)
9. Imaging, 1,374 (3 percent)
10. Eye care, 947 (2 percent)

Oregon brokerage manuals give treatment centers, dialysis clinics, and behavioral health visits as examples of subscription trips, the recurring rides also known as standing orders.

How Ride Line works with its providers

A contracted company’s job goes beyond driving. IHN-CCO’s handbook says the assigned driving company keeps its drivers updated, tracks where they are, and fixes pickup and drop-off problems. Ride Line confirms rides with drivers, and members get the driving company’s name and the driver’s name and phone number during the booking call or no later than two days before the visit.

• Late cars. When a driver has not shown up a quarter hour after the scheduled pickup, Ride Line sends another car.
• After hours. The call center is closed nights, weekends, and 12 holidays, and closes at noon on Christmas Eve. While it is closed, a recorded line routes urgent requests to the driving company serving the pickup county. Ride Line’s page names the after-hours companies: two for Linn and Benton, one for Lincoln, and one secure transport company for all three counties. The after-hours guide covers staffing for that role.
• Ride-hail as overflow. In April 2025 Ride Line staff said Uber and Lyft get rides only after in-network subcontracted capacity is exhausted, only for members who can walk unassisted, and only with extra member permission. The pilot booked 1,038 rides from July through December 2025, all ambulatory, a small share of the brokerage’s volume.
• A provider phone queue. Ride Line’s phone tree has its own queue for providers. From April through June 2026 it answered 1,963 of 2,382 provider calls, or 82 percent.
• Schedule timing. At the October 2025 committee meeting, a Ride Line provider asked to discuss when schedules are released to providers and proposed planning a week ahead. Asked how much more notice would help, the provider said two to three days.

Getting into Ride Line’s network

Ride Line has provider relations staff, so start with a phone call.

1. Call Ride Line and ask for provider relations. The main number is 541-924-8738. Explain which of the three counties you cover, your vehicle types, your hours, and whether you take same-day, weekend, and after-hours work.
2. Credential drivers for both rule sets. IHN-CCO rides follow OAR 410-141-3925: a license of the proper class, a clear federal exclusion screen, a criminal background check, defensive driving and PASS completed within a driver’s first three months and every three years after, and current CPR, First Aid, and blood spill cards before the first ride. Open card rides follow OAR 410-136-3040, which gives six months for those courses and requires NEMT duties and fraud reporting training when hired and yearly after that.
3. Equip every vehicle. Both rules call for the same core kit: seat belts for every passenger, an extinguisher, first aid supplies, a flashlight, roadside reflective or warning devices, traction devices when the weather requires, disposable gloves, and whatever securement a wheelchair or stretcher rider needs. Ride Line also tells members every car has heating and air conditioning that work and carries snow chains in winter.
4. Carry workers’ compensation. Under OAR 410-136-3060, brokerages require it from each subcontractor that employs workers, unless an exemption applies.
5. Treat secure transport separately. Ride Line books secured rides, and only providers approved under OAR 309-033 may run them.
6. Attend an advisory committee meeting. Meetings are public and include a public comment period, and the committee’s bylaws name providers of brokerage transportation as one of its membership categories.

The guide to subcontracting NEMT trips lists agreement terms to review before you sign.

Oversight: IHN-CCO’s review and the advisory committee

Ride Line answers to two layers of oversight, and both reach its providers.

The CCO’s review. OAR 410-141-3505 keeps IHN-CCO fully accountable for the work it delegates to Ride Line, including work done by the companies Ride Line contracts with. The CCO has to monitor the brokerage on an ongoing basis, give OHA a yearly list of its subcontractors and downstream entities with the tasks delegated to each, and document its monitoring. Ride Line’s January 2026 committee agenda included an item titled “Ride Line’s Annual Oversight Audit.” Separately, in April 2025 Ride Line’s provider relations supervisor told the committee that contracts renew on a two-year cycle and that a pre-delegation audit would come before the next round of renewals. Keep driver files, vehicle records, and trip logs ready to show at any time.

The advisory committee. OAR 410-136-3020 requires open card brokerages to run regional advisory groups that include OHA, the Oregon Department of Human Services, area agencies on aging, riders, advocates, brokerage subcontractors, and NEMT ambulance providers. Ride Line’s is the Transportation Brokerage Advisory Committee (TBAC). It advises OCWCOG staff and board, meets quarterly, and can have up to 17 voting members from the three counties. A Ride Line provider sat on the January 2026 roster as a voting member. Each packet includes call center, grievance, denial, and trip reports. For example, from April through June 2026 there were 63 grievances and 1,159 denials, led by rides not approved in advance (557) and services not covered (244).

Rules on the road

IHN-CCO’s handbook and Ride Line’s page set the standards drivers work to.

• Pickup. Drivers announce themselves and wait until 15 minutes have passed since the scheduled time, then tell Ride Line before they leave. Members never have to get in before their scheduled time.
• Drop-off. The member arrives 15 minutes or more before the appointment, but not over an hour early. Never at a closed facility, and not earlier than 15 minutes before opening unless the member or a representative asks.
• Returns. If no return time was set, the member calls Ride Line and a driver comes within an hour. Pickups after the day’s last appointment happen no more than a quarter hour after closing. The will-call glossary entry explains the term.
• Service level. Door-to-door help is the most drivers give. They may help a member into the main lobby but go no further, and they do not feed or dress members.
• Paperwork limits. Drivers do not sign documents for a member, sign members in or out of appointments, or stand in for a medically necessary attendant.
• Child seats. Drivers do not put in or take out car seats, and seats leave the vehicle on arrival. One attendant rides free, and members 12 and under must have one who is 18 or older.
• Changes. A driver may not change a scheduled pickup time without Ride Line’s written permission, and may not make extra stops or run errands.
• Weather. Critical trips such as chemotherapy and dialysis still run whenever it is safe. A driver who cannot reach a member tells Ride Line right away, and Ride Line looks for another driver or service before cancelling.

Contacts

Standing rides in HealthRide

Ride Line’s leading trip purposes are treatment, behavioral health, and dialysis visits, which often repeat on a fixed schedule. In HealthRide, a standing ride is scheduled once and keeps showing up on the board week after week through recurring trips. Ryder Go then plans your whole day in one click, standing rides included.