Will Medi-Cal pay for transportation to and from an appointment?

One resource for transportation to medical therapies is Medi-Cal. For example, Medi-Cal can pick up a child at school, take them to their therapy appointment, and then transport them from the therapy appointment home, if parents can establish that there's not a way for the parents to do it themselves. This applies even if the therapy provider does not accept Medi-Cal.

To set this up, you need to get a referral from your child’s doctor for medical transport. Then, contact your Medi-Cal managed care plan. The managed care plan will have a transit company that they contract with, and you usually have to set the trip up a couple days in advance.

In general, an adult needs to accompany a minor child during transportation. If you are working full time and have specialized supervision, that person should be able to accompany the child to the appointment even if they cannot transport them.

Medi-Cal may also pay for transportation to disability-related medical appointments via In-Home Supportive Services if an IHSS-authorized service is required on the way to, during, or on the way home from the appointment. If the IHSS provider is required to remain on the premises during the appointment, you should request wait time as well as accompaniment. Because hours are assessed annually, you are most likely to get IHSS hours for standing appointments such as therapies, which are predictable ahead of time. However, if you know that your child sees specific providers in known time intervals (e.g., once per month), you can include that in your request.

Medi-Cal typically covers emergency transportation, but it may also be relevant with a medically complex child who requires non-emergency medical transit to appointments.

For more information about what Medi-Cal covers and when, see our Medi-Cal Terms & Services Glossary.

Another resource for transportation is Regional Center as a payor of last resort.