Ride to Care provider guide: Health Share of Oregon rides in the Portland area

How Ride to Care is organized

Ride to Care is the ride program of Health Share of Oregon, which serves Oregon Health Plan members across Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties as their coordinated care organization (CCO). CareOregon runs the program for Health Share. Instead of one NEMT broker, the work is split among partners, and a provider deals with each for a different part of the job.

About 60 transportation companies hold Ride to Care contracts. By the program’s monthly averages, vehicle rides are the biggest mode: about 42,900 completed a month, or roughly 1,400 a day, against about 17,900 transit trips and 2,600 mileage reimbursement trips. Its 2025 recap counts 39,796 riders. Riders pay nothing, and the call center chooses a sedan, wheelchair van, stretcher vehicle, or non-emergent ambulance based on medical need. Contracted providers also drive flex trips, rides outside the Medicaid benefit that Health Share offers as health-related services, such as trips to housing appointments or to buy fresh food.

Ride to Care exists because Health Share holds a CCO contract with OHA, the Oregon Health Authority. In July 2025, OHA told the Oregon Health Policy Board it would extend current CCO contracts through December 31, 2028. The next contracts begin January 1, 2029, and the procurement for them formally opens in early 2027.

Who rides with Ride to Care

Ride to Care carries Health Share members only. Oregon Health Plan members on other plans in these counties use different ride services, so a Portland fleet may need several contracts. Our Oregon state guide maps every ride service in the state.

The first three rows follow OHA’s current list of CCO ride services. The Tri-County MedLink row comes from OHA’s brokerage map, dated July 1, 2023. Health Share also pays for approved rides outside its three counties, and Oregon’s CCO rules require out-of-area rides when a covered service is not available nearby.

Getting a Ride to Care contract

The Ride to Care provider page lists Ride Connection Provider Support as its contact, and Ride Connection is the partner in charge of the provider network, so start there.

1. Register the business. File with Oregon’s Secretary of State (and Washington’s, if you also operate there) and get an EIN. A company working in Portland also needs a city business license.
2. Get an NPI. CCOs enroll their contracted providers with OHA on form OHP 3108. It lists transportation provider as a provider type and asks for an NPI registered in NPPES, a physical street address for the service location (no PO box), and a contact for site visits. Our NPI guide explains how to apply.
3. Call Ride Connection Provider Support. Ask where and when the network needs more vehicles, and which service levels are short. Rates and insurance limits are set in the provider agreement.
4. Build the credential file. Submit driver and vehicle documents and training certificates the way Ride Connection asks. The manual promises advance notice of missing or expired items, and payment is held only when the deadline in that notice passes. Our broker credentialing guide covers what a complete file contains.
5. Get Portland permits for city pickups. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) issues company, vehicle, and driver permits. The details are in the table below.
6. Set up the office. At minimum, the manual asks for an internet connection and computer able to take ride assignments, email, and attachments; an up-to-date standards-compliant browser; an operating system that still gets security patches; a sign-in or physical lock on every device holding member data; software that handles electronic billing; and a phone or tablet for each driver.

Portland permits in numbers

Driver requirements

OAR 410-141-3925 sets the minimum for CCO rides, and CareOregon adds its own items. Licensed ambulance services follow separate rules and fall outside it.

A criminal record is not an automatic bar. Under OAR 410-141-3925, each CCO needs an exception process that weighs the offense, how long ago it happened, and any risk to riders. CareOregon’s manual adds that exceptions need CareOregon’s approval, and it lists knowingly keeping a driver who has a felony conviction, or a misdemeanor involving a sex offense, among the grounds for suspending or ending a provider’s contract. Ride Connection runs driver classes around the tri-county area, among them Defensive Driving and a customer service course with wheelchair securement, with virtual and online options. Our NEMT driver training guide goes deeper on the courses.

Vehicle requirements

Each vehicle carries the state safety kit plus CareOregon’s extras, and follows a maintenance schedule covering everything the manufacturer recommends.

Every vehicle also needs current registration, proof of insurance (the insurance card or an ACORD certificate), and blank incident report forms. A wheelchair vehicle adds ADA compliance certification dated within the last year. A vehicle damaged in an accident stays off NEMT work until an ASE-certified mechanic has assessed it. Smoking and vaping are banned inside at all times, including when the vehicle is empty. Our vehicle inspection checklist turns these items into a daily check.

Trip rules that affect your pay

The provider manual spells out how trips move and when a trip goes unpaid.

• Assignment. The brokerage looks at the areas and hours you say you cover, your vehicles, the level of service, your rates, and how you have performed. Respond to offers quickly.
• Handing trips back. Accepted reasons include trips outside your area or hours, no vehicle of the right type, a vehicle down for repairs or a driver out, bad weather, and safety concerns. Cherry-picking the best-paying work, or a habit of last-minute returns, can trigger a corrective action plan, which may cut the number of trips you are offered.
• Changes. Pickup times, appointment times, addresses, and vehicle type change only with the brokerage’s approval. A trip run differently from its authorization goes unpaid.
• Waiting. Drivers announce themselves, give the rider 15 minutes from the scheduled pickup time, and check in with dispatch before driving off. Waits at a planned stop, a pharmacy for example, top out at 15 minutes, and a longer wait needs the brokerage’s OK.
• Timing. The 2026 rider’s guide tells members the driver should show up within 15 minutes of the scheduled pickup time or window, and have them at the appointment 15 minutes or more ahead of time, but no more than an hour ahead. Facility drop-offs cannot come more than 15 minutes before opening unless the rider asks, and return pickups should happen within 15 minutes of closing. For will-call returns, a driver is due within 60 minutes of the call.
• Service levels. Each trip carries one: hand-to-hand, door-to-door, or curb-to-curb. A hospital discharge means a full escort from the unit’s nurse station. Drivers help with stairs but may not carry a rider up or down them, and never go into an exam room. Unless the brokerage has approved it and the driver is licensed and trained for it, drivers stay out of private homes and do not help riders get into or out of bed or a wheelchair.
• Children. Riders 12 and under travel with an attendant arranged by a parent or guardian, who also brings and installs any child seat. Drivers do not install seats, and you cannot bill for the attendant.
• Billing. Bill the contracted rate over a reasonably direct, cost-effective route. A negotiated rate stands only if the brokerage approved it before the trip. Overpayments found in an audit can be deducted from a later invoice.

Records, audits, and incidents

Keep a full record for every leg: the trip or authorization number, date, member name, pickup address, destination, appointment time, scheduled and actual pickup times, drop-off time, mode, provider, driver, vehicle ID or plate, mileage, and cost. The manual sets a six-year minimum. OAR 410-141-3920 counts transportation providers as participating providers under OAR 410-141-3520, which requires 10 years, so keep records for 10.

• Audits. CareOregon requires the brokerage to verify 5 percent of all trips before and after they run, and a sample of every provider’s trips is included. Expect a yearly site visit, and possibly a random one.
• Appointment checks. Since September 2025, CareOregon has told clinics that Ride to Care may call to confirm Health Share members’ appointments, and a trip it cannot confirm may be denied.
• Insurance. When coverage lapses or proof is missing, the brokerage can pause new assignments and take back trips scheduled during the gap until coverage is shown.
• Incidents. Send written notice right away for any injury, fatality, or allegation of driver abuse. Report other accidents, and any suspected privacy breach, within 24 hours. In an emergency, call 911, alert dispatch, and send a written incident report within 24 hours. Our incident report template captures the details brokers ask for.
• Grievances. Routine grievances need a response within 3 business days, or 1 business day for serious ones when the brokerage asks. Chronic lateness, including return pickups that come more than 30 minutes late, is grounds for suspension or termination.

Contacts

Where software helps

Ride to Care audits look at billed amounts, pickup and drop-off times, and whether the level of transport was right. HealthRide records each leg as it runs: GPS-verified miles, a timestamp for each pickup and drop-off, the rider’s on-screen signature, and the recorded wait before any no-show. When Ride Connection or CareOregon asks for proof, export the trip log from reports as a CSV or PDF.