Medicaid Transportation

If you are thinking about calling South Central Transit (SCT) for Medicaid transportation, there are several things you need to know. The information below is a guide to help walk you through the process and make both your approval and subsequent transportation a success.

• First Transit is who you call to get approval for Medicaid to pay for your transportation service.

South Central Transit is who actually provides the transportation on the day of your appointment. It is each client’s responsibility to manage their own transportation through First Transit. Again, First Transit is the authorizing agency for Medicaid transportation in the State of Illinois. This should not be confused with South Central Transit which is the actual transportation service provider.

• To schedule a Medicaid service with SCT, please contact our scheduling department at 800-660-7433 and speak to a scheduler first to verify that the date of service is available for your trip. Hearing Impaired please call 711. We do take Medicaid reservation arrangements as much as 3 months in advance, so the sooner you make contact regarding a specific appointment date and secure your approval number from First Transit the more likely that we will be able to provide the service for you.

NOTE: SCT requires a minimum 48-hrs business notice for Medicaid Transportation. For some services, First Transit can take as long as a 7 business days for approval. So please plan in advance where possible to make your service a stress free success.

• Once you have confirmed with the scheduler that the date is available, contact First Transit as soon as possible at 866-503-9040 to request authorization for your transportation and get your approval number then call SCT back and give that number to the scheduler. Remember, we will not book or approve your trip with SCT until we have received an approved authorization number through First Transit.

Be prepared to give First Transit all the information they need to set up authorization for your transportation. Not only will you need the requested information listed below, but you will want to double check to make sure that the information being given is correct. Incorrect information will likely delay or prevent you from reaching your appointment on the designated date. Correct spelling, telephone and address information is paramount. You will need:

1. Recipient(s) name – remember this is the person actually seeing the doctor
2. Home address of recipient
3. Phone number both for recipient and for any medical facility you will be visiting
4. Recipient ID number
5. Date and time of the appointment
6. Address for the medical facility you plan to visit along with the physician’s or medical group’s name
7. Reason for your appointment
   NOTE: If you plan to use a mobility device or any adaptive equipment that information must be given to First Transit at the time of your call
   Approval of an aide to assist must be given by First Transit

We encourage you to ask First Transit personnel to repeat address and doctor information after it has been keyed into their system to avoid costly mistakes. Remember, employees at First Transit are human and do make mistakes. Unfortunately, their mistakes could cost you on the day of service if the information has been entered incorrectly.

• Once SCT schedulers have agreed to provide service, have your prior approval number and it is in an approved status, we must have contact with you the day prior to service to establish that you still have an appointment and still intend to use our services. We will make several attempts to contact you and encourage you to contact us if you do not hear from us the day prior to service. However if we do not speak to you by 3:00 p.m. the day prior to service to verify that service is still needed, your service will be canceled.

We encourage you to keep your phone number updated with SCT schedulers at all times and to contact your doctor the day prior to service to establish that you have an appointment as scheduled.

• Should you need to cancel a scheduled service, SCT requires a notice 2hrs prior to your scheduled pick up time for cancellation. Any cancellation after that two hour notice will be considered a no show for services. Cancellations can be made by called the office at 800-660-7433 during normal business hours 5:00 am to 7:00 pm, Monday through Friday. After 7:00 pm, clients may leave a cancellation notice on voicemail.
  While we understand that emergencies do occur, you should make every effort to contact SCT 2 hours prior to your scheduled pick up time to cancel and even earlier if possible.

Late cancellations and no shows are tracked by client and successive late cancellations and no shows could result in loss of Medicaid services through SCT. In some instances, regular public transportation may still be available.

• Only those individuals authorized specifically by First Transit may travel on a medical appointment due to vehicle capacity constraints. If an aide(s) is required, you use a mobility device, or need the lift to board the bus, you must notify First Transit of this when requesting authorization for your service. Additional passengers will not be allowed to board without the knowledge and consent of First Transit and SCT.

Please note that you will be taken only to the address listed on the prior approval from First Transit, and you will be picked up only from the address listed on the prior approval.

We look forward to serving you. Thank you for choosing South Central Transit for your transportation needs.