How to become a Tennessee Carriers NEMT provider for TennCare

Who Tennessee Carriers is

Tennessee Carriers, Inc. is a Memphis NEMT broker that arranges rides for TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program. It has served TennCare since 1994 and calls itself Tennessee’s largest NEMT broker. It schedules the rides and hands them to contracted transporters, covering ambulatory, wheelchair, and stretcher riders.

Beyond rides, Tennessee Carriers runs mileage reimbursement and a bus pass program for members. For medical offices, it handles letters of medical necessity that support a member’s transportation needs. Our NEMT broker explainer covers how brokers fit into Medicaid.

Where Tennessee Carriers operates

Tennessee Carriers works only in Tennessee. TennCare delivers NEMT through its managed care organizations, and each one picks its own broker. Our Tennessee NEMT guide covers the full program.

TennCare lists UnitedHealthcare and Wellpoint in all three of its regions: West, Middle, and East Tennessee. That gives Tennessee Carriers members in every part of the state. Its transporter form asks for your region and the counties you serve, so apply for the areas where you actually keep vehicles.

A Tennessee Carriers contract reaches only UnitedHealthcare and Wellpoint members. BlueCare and TennCare Select members book with Verida, so a transporter who wants every TennCare rider in its counties needs a contract with each broker. Finish your TennCare registration first, because Tennessee Carriers checks it before contracting.

How to become a Tennessee Carriers transportation provider

Tennessee Carriers screens new transporters with one form and a TennCare registration check.

1. Get an NPI. Use taxonomy 343900000X for non-emergency medical transport. Our NPI guide walks through the application, and the taxonomy code page explains how codes work.
2. Register with TennCare. Complete your provider file in the TennCare Provider Registration Portal. All seven sections of the file must show a green checkmark.
3. Pick your specialty code. Ambulatory only is 264. Wheelchair only, or wheelchair and ambulatory, is 265. Ambulance is 260 under taxonomy 341600000X or 3416L0300X. Make sure it matches your TennCare registration.
4. Complete the Prospective NEMT Transporter Information Form. Fill it in electronically. Every section is required.
5. Attach your TennCare screenshots. Send four: your portal homepage, plus the Identification, Licenses and Classifications, and ACH Authorization sections of your provider file.
6. Email the packet. Send it to NEMTOnboarding@tenncarriers.com. Tennessee Carriers selects new vendors based on network needs, vendor capabilities, experience, and location, and not every applicant is accepted.

What the transporter form asks for

Standards Tennessee Carriers sets

Tennessee Carriers expects transporters to run well-maintained vehicles with well-trained, professional drivers, and to provide safe, efficient, and timely rides. Every transporter must meet and show compliance with its standards for performance, insurance, drivers, and vehicles. Ask the onboarding team for its insurance minimums before you buy or change a policy.

• Rider treatment. Tennessee Carriers stresses sensitivity and respect for every rider regardless of gender, race, religion, disability, age, national origin, language, sexual orientation, or appearance.
• Driver screening. Tennessee Carriers says the drivers who carry its members undergo comprehensive background checks, regular physicals, regular drug and alcohol testing, and safe driving training.
• Reporting. Transporters answer complaints, report accidents and incidents, and file regulatory reports on time. These requirements can change in content and frequency. Our incident report template keeps accident reports consistent.
• Training and equipment. Tennessee Carriers points transporters to TAPTCO for training and to Lytx for on-board cameras and monitoring.

How trips reach you and how you get paid

Members book with Tennessee Carriers by phone on their plan’s line or online through its scheduling portal. TennCare asks members to book at least two business days ahead. For shorter notice, the NEMT call center checks with the medical provider that the visit is urgent before scheduling. Tennessee Carriers then sends the ride to a contracted transporter.

Rates, billing, and payment timing are set in the transporter agreement. Ask about cancellation and no-show handling and the invoice schedule before you commit vehicles. Keep a complete broker credentialing file so renewals do not interrupt your trips.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• Booking notice. Members now book at least two business days ahead, replacing Tennessee Carriers’ earlier 72-hour calendar rule. A Friday request, for example, can be scheduled for Tuesday at the earliest.
• Onboarding address. Completed transporter forms go to NEMTOnboarding@tenncarriers.com, under instructions Tennessee Carriers updated in January 2026.
• Plan names. TennCare’s Amerigroup plan now operates as Wellpoint. Tennessee Carriers still brokers its NEMT, with a separate Wellpoint call center.

Provider contacts

Running this in HealthRide

Brokers ask for proof after the fact, so keep it as you go. HealthRide’s trip log records GPS miles, pickup and drop-off timestamps, and the rider’s on-screen signature for every leg, plus the recorded wait on each no-show. It exports as CSV or PDF from reports when Tennessee Carriers or TennCare asks.