TransLink provider guide: OHP rides in southern Oregon

TransLink at a glance

TransLink is the Medicaid ride brokerage of Rogue Valley Transportation District (RVTD), the public transit district serving the Medford area. It belongs to RVTD’s accessible transportation department, along with the district’s Valley Lift paratransit service, and its office is at 239 E. Barnett Road in Medford.

Three payers send it riders. Jackson Care Connect (JCC) is one of CareOregon’s plans, and CareOregon’s transportation provider manual lists RVTD as JCC’s NEMT manager and TransLink as the program name. Cascade Health Alliance (CHA) provides rides for all its members through a partnership with TransLink. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) sends open card members from seven counties.

TransLink screens each request and offers the least costly kind of trip that meets the rider’s needs. Riders who can use the bus get fare, either loaded onto RVTD’s electronic fare card or mailed. Riders who can drive, or have a friend or relative to drive them, get mileage reimbursement, currently 49 cents a mile. Vehicle rides go to members who need them: sedans, wheelchair vans, stretcher vehicles, secure transport, and non-emergent ambulances.

Plans and counties

Other plans in these counties use other ride services, so confirm the rider’s plan before you rely on a trip:

• AllCare CCO members in Curry, Jackson, Josephine, and part of Douglas use Ready Ride.
• Advanced Health members (Coos, Curry) and Umpqua Health Alliance members (Douglas) use Bay Cities Brokerage.
• Eastern Oregon CCO members in Lake County use GOBHI.
• Trillium members in western Douglas County use RideSource.
• PacificSource Community Solutions members in Klamath County book through Modivcare.

A statewide change comes in January 2027. OHA’s notice, updated August 7, 2026, says federal changes shift every Healthier Oregon member out of CCOs and onto open card that month. TransLink also books open card rides in Jackson and Klamath counties, so JCC and CHA riders affected by the change keep booking with TransLink. Other regions are covered in the Oregon state guide.

How TransLink uses contracted companies

TransLink runs a reserve fleet of its own and also gives trips to subcontracted companies. The 2026 rider guides show how that works:

• Busy periods. CHA’s guide says that when use runs above average or vehicles fall 15 minutes or more behind, TransLink puts reserve fleet vehicles on the road, reroutes vehicles by location, and brings in more subcontractor vehicles.
• Cancellations. The same guide promises that a cancelled ride is promptly reassigned to another NEMT provider.
• Late drivers. JCC’s guide asks members to call once 10 minutes have gone by after the pickup time or window with no driver, and warns that the ride may be handed to a different transportation provider.
• Trip details. When possible, JCC members learn the driver’s or transportation provider’s name and phone number two or more days ahead of the visit. That number is only for questions about the trip already scheduled, not for booking new ones.

Open card rules shape the same process. Under OAR 410-136-3020, the brokerage prior-authorizes and pays subcontractors and moves a ride to a second subcontractor when the first cannot run it. When it assigns rides, it weighs cost, the rider’s equipment needs, what each subcontractor can do, whether it is available, how it has performed, and the brokerage’s own need to keep enough capacity. For JCC trips, CareOregon’s manual adds that brokerages assign based on the area and hours a provider commits to, its vehicles and service levels, its rates, and its performance, with no guaranteed volume.

Asking TransLink for work

Work with TransLink starts with a phone call. RVTD lists its formal bids and requests for proposals online, but a company offering capacity is better off calling first.

1. Call the general line. TransLink’s general and quality improvement numbers are 888-518-8162 and 541-842-2062. Ask who handles subcontracted providers, and explain the counties, hours, and vehicle types you cover. CHA’s guide warns members that nights, weekends, and holidays are hard to schedule, so capacity at those times is worth leading with.
2. Build driver files for both rule sets. JCC and CHA trips follow the CCO rule, OAR 410-141-3925, and open card trips follow OAR 410-136-3040. The next two sections set out the differences.
3. Meet CareOregon’s technology minimum for JCC work. The manual expects internet access and a computer that can receive ride assignments, a current web browser, an operating system still getting security updates, a password or physical lock protecting member data, software able to bill electronically, and a phone or tablet for each driver to get assignments.
4. Ask which background check TransLink uses. When the brokerage is a transit district organized under ORS chapter 267, the open card rule has subcontractor drivers pass a check under ORS 267.237 and the district’s own policy. That statute lets a district ask the State Police to check drivers employed by companies under contract with it.
5. Carry workers’ compensation. OAR 410-136-3060 has brokerages require it from every subcontractor with employees, unless an exemption applies.
6. Check local permits. Both rider guides tell members that vehicles meet local license and permit requirements, so confirm the city rules where your vans are based.

The guide to subcontracting NEMT trips covers the terms these agreements usually include.

CCO rules for JCC and CHA trips

JCC and CHA trips fall under Oregon’s CCO transportation rules, OAR 410-141-3920 through 410-141-3965. CareOregon also monitors its brokerages and can place one on corrective action, and OAR 410-141-3505 holds each CCO fully accountable for subcontracted work, including work by companies further down the chain.

What riders are promised on the road

The 2026 rider guides turn those rules into promises your drivers have to keep.

• Arrival. Drivers let the member know they are there, wait a full 15 minutes beyond the scheduled pickup, and tell the TransLink dispatcher before leaving. JCC’s guide sets the driver’s latest arrival at 15 minutes past the scheduled time or window.
• Drop-off. Riders reach the appointment at least 15 minutes early, but not over an hour early.
• Returns. A will-call pickup arrives within 60 minutes of calling. The will-call guide covers holding capacity for them.
• Changes. Members give two hours’ notice or more for a cancellation or change. Drivers may not move an assigned pickup time unless TransLink approves.
• Stops. No unscheduled stops on Jackson County trips. A pharmacy stop has to be booked along with the trip, and the member picks whether the driver waits 15 minutes or returns when called.
• Shared rides. JCC’s guide tells members that rides are not guaranteed to be private and that other riders may board or get off along the way.
• Driver limits. Drivers stay out of homes and rooms, except for hospital discharges and stretcher transports under CHA’s guide. They do not transfer members between bed, wheelchair, and vehicle, help them dress, or take fares or tips.
• Equipment. Members report a wheelchair more than 30 inches wide, more than 48 inches long, or weighing over 600 pounds occupied. Portable oxygen is secured for the ride. Car seats leave the vehicle with the child, since the return may be a different driver.
• Weather. In bad conditions, trips for dialysis, chemotherapy, and other critical care get priority. CHA’s guide says drivers carry a bad-weather go-bag, traction devices, and a flashlight, and all-wheel-drive vehicles cover critical trips. The bad weather policy guide covers the planning.
• Incidents. TransLink must email CHA about any accident or incident inside 24 hours, naming the driver and member and giving the time and place, injuries, any hospital treatment, and any police report. Expect it to ask you for those details the same day.

Open card trips: training and pay

Open card members in the seven counties ride under OHA’s division 136 rules, which differ from the CCO rules in several places.

• Training deadlines. Defensive driving, CPR and First Aid with blood spill, and PASS are each due within six months of hire rather than three. NEMT duties and fraud reporting training happens at hire and at least yearly.
• Records. The brokerage and its subcontractors keep inspection and maintenance records available for audit, plus each driver’s background check result.
• Base rates. TransLink and each subcontractor agree on a base rate for every mode.
• Unpaid time. Waiting for a rider to reach the vehicle, and helping a rider in or out, is not paid. Waiting may be paid in limited cases, such as a rider on your stretcher who cannot move to the facility’s, or a rider who is nauseous or vomiting after dialysis or chemotherapy.
• Mode and pay. When a wheelchair van carries an ambulatory rider, the ambulatory rate applies. Reclining wheelchairs pay the wheelchair rate.
• Shared loads. The first rider earns the full base rate and each additional rider half, and miles are paid only from the first pickup point to the final destination.
• Miles. Only actual miles on the most cost-effective route are paid.
• Appointment checks. The brokerage confirms appointments with medical providers on 5 percent or more of ride requests.

Contacts

Keeping TransLink’s timelines in HealthRide

TransLink promises JCC members a will-call pickup within an hour, and asks them to call when a driver is 10 minutes late so the ride can move to another provider. In HealthRide, a will-call return keeps its spot on the dispatch board with no set time and turns into an active trip once the rider calls. Every van appears on the live map with late warnings on pickups that are slipping, so dispatch can act before the rider calls TransLink.