How to Start a NEMT Business in Florida (2026)

To start a NEMT business in Florida: form an LLC ($125), get a free EIN and Type 2 NPI, insure each van toward the roughly $1 million combined single limit brokers require, and pass Level 2 screening as the owner. Enroll with Florida Medicaid (most transportation companies use the limited enrollment), then credential with each of the four broker networks holding your counties’ plans: Alivi, ModivCare, MTM Health, and Ride2MD. There’s no state NEMT license and no single statewide broker; the permit layer that bites is county, from a business tax receipt to Miami-Dade’s board-approved certificate. Plan on $15,000 to $45,000 and two to five months to first Medicaid trips, with private-pay revenue arriving earlier.

Between January 2025 and March 2026, two of the biggest books of Medicaid transportation work in Florida changed hands without a single van operator signing anything. Sunshine Health, the state’s largest Medicaid plan, moved its rides from ModivCare to Alivi, a Miami transportation benefit company, on January 1, 2025 ^[4]. UnitedHealthcare handed its Florida trips to MTM Health on March 1, 2026 ^[5]. In between, ModivCare, still the biggest broker in the state, went through Chapter 11 and emerged owned by its lenders ^[13]. If your schedule rode on any one of those contracts, your business changed shape three times in fourteen months, and none of it was your doing.

If you’re starting a non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) business in Florida, that churn is the market you’re walking into, and it cuts both ways: every handoff resets incumbency, and the riders never stopped needing rides. Florida runs one of the biggest Medicaid programs in the country, behind only California, New York, and Texas: roughly 3.9 million people, with 73 percent of the caseload in managed care plans, per the Legislature’s July 2026 Social Services Estimating Conference ^[41]. The state re-let every plan contract in February 2025 under the program it calls SMMC 3.0 ^[1], and each plan hires its own transportation manager. So the question in Florida isn’t “how do I sign up with the state broker.” It’s which plans cover your counties, who runs their rides this year, and what you’ll run on while credentialing grinds.

I run Duet, a dispatch software company, and I talk to NEMT operators every week, Florida included. This is the Florida edition of our national guide on how to start a NEMT business. It cites the actual Florida statutes, rules, and agency documents, and where something couldn’t be verified against a primary source, I say so. Requirements change, and Florida’s have changed twice since 2025. Confirm against the linked sources before you spend money.

The one-page checklist: steps to start a NEMT business in Florida

Phase 0: know your demand

• A medical transportation business in Florida lives or dies on where its trips come from. Decide yours: your counties’ Medicaid plans and their brokers, the state’s fee-for-service broker lane, facility contracts, private-pay families, or your county’s Transportation Disadvantaged coordinator.
• Look up which SMMC plans serve your region (Florida runs nine lettered regions, A through I, defined county by county in s. 409.966, Florida Statutes ^[2]) and who arranges each plan’s transportation. The map below is your starting point.
• Price a wheelchair trip with two local competitors. Miami rates and Panhandle rates are different businesses.

Phase 1: business foundation

• Form your LLC at Sunbiz: $125 to file ($100 filing fee plus $25 registered agent fee), then $138.75 for the annual report each spring; miss the May 1 deadline and it’s $538.75 ^[46]. Florida has no personal income tax, and a pass-through LLC pays no state entity tax either.
• Get a free EIN from the IRS. Never pay a third party for this.
• Get the local business tax receipt for the county, and often also the city, where your office sits ^[36]. Fees are set locally and modest.

Phase 2: federal identifiers

• Apply for a Type 2 (organizational) NPI at NPPES, taxonomy 343900000X, Non-Emergency Medical Transport (VAN). Free, usually issued within days.
• Check owners and drivers against the two federal exclusion lists, the OIG list and SAM.gov, and recheck monthly. Plans and brokers check these too.

Phase 3: vehicles, drivers, and insurance

• No state vehicle inspection exists in Florida; the inspections that matter come from county permit programs and broker onboarding ^[30][32][33]. Spec each van with a lift or ramp, four-point securement, and working air conditioning: Florida plan contracts spell out the A/C in writing ^[40]. Before you buy anything, check each target broker’s vehicle standards: networks commonly cap model year and mileage in their credentialing packets, and a cheap older van can fail onboarding ^[50][51].
• Build each driver’s file the way brokers want it: background check, drug screen, driving record, CPR and first aid, defensive driving, and hands-on wheelchair securement training ^[50].
• Owners and principals need Level 2 fingerprint screening through AHCA’s Clearinghouse; drivers, by statute, need only Level 1 ^[20].
• Insure toward the broker bar (roughly $1 million combined single limit), not Florida’s statutory floors, which are startlingly low for a van that isn’t a taxicab ^[24][50].

Phase 4: Medicaid enrollment and the brokers

• Enroll with Florida Medicaid through the online wizard at the Florida Medicaid Web Portal; managed-care-only providers use the limited enrollment, and plans deny claims from companies that aren’t active on the state provider file ^[18][19].
• Apply to every broker holding a plan in your counties: ModivCare, MTM Health, Alivi, Ride2MD. Every application is its own queue, and the big networks only take providers where they need capacity.

Phase 5: the trip sources you control

• Set up a website and Google Business Profile built around the trips from Phase 0. Add Yelp and Facebook, especially if you’re starting private-pay-first.
• Start facility outreach and your private-pay presence the same week your applications go in, not after they’re approved. Credentialing has a queue; relationships don’t.
• Offer friends and family free or discounted rides in exchange for honest Google reviews. Ten of them make strangers trust you.

Who pays for NEMT rides in Florida?

Four sources pay for NEMT rides in Florida: Medicaid managed care plans through their contracted brokers, the state’s fee-for-service broker lane for riders outside managed care, contracts with facilities like hospitals, dialysis clinics, and senior living communities, and private-pay families booking directly. A fifth, the county-run Transportation Disadvantaged system, is a Florida bonus lane most guides have never heard of; it gets its own section below.

Medicaid is the volume, and in Florida that means the plans. Transportation is a covered benefit every Managed Medical Assistance plan must provide under s. 409.973, Florida Statutes, and the state’s Non-Emergency Transportation Services Coverage Policy binds the plans to its coverage rules ^[3]. Around 2.9 million of the state’s enrollees sit in SMMC plans, and managed care carries 74 percent of the program’s roughly $39.6 billion forecast spend, per the July 2026 estimating conference ^[41]. The remaining riders, those not enrolled in a plan, get rides through transportation brokers contracted directly with AHCA: ModivCare, and MTM Health in legacy regions 3 through 8, with a $1 copay each way ^[7][8].

Facilities are the stability. Florida has 533 Medicare-certified dialysis facilities per CMS’s live provider data, 75 of them in Miami-Dade County alone, and 13 rural counties with none at all, which means somebody drives those patients across county lines three times a week ^[44]. Hospital discharge desks, skilled nursing, rehab, assisted living: one facility that trusts you can fill a van’s whole day.

Private pay is the margin. Florida is the retirement capital of America: per the state demographers’ April 2025 estimates, 21.9 percent of Floridians are 65 or older and Sumter County, home of The Villages, is 53.4 percent seniors ^[42], and the state’s own projections add another 1.5 million seniors this decade, reaching one in four residents by 2030 ^[43]. Families booking a parent’s appointments directly, at rates you set, are how Florida operators fund the months the broker queues eat. And Florida demand is seasonal in a way no other state on this site needs a warning about: the winter snowbird influx swells exactly the demographics NEMT serves from roughly October through April, then summer brings the trough, so size the fleet for season and plan cash flow for August.

And the supply side is thinner than the demand side suggests: Florida Medicaid’s own provider file lists only about 295 actively enrolled NEMT van companies statewide, against nearly 3,000 Florida organizations and individuals holding the NEMT taxonomy in the federal NPI registry ^[45]. Plenty of people set up NEMT companies. Few finish the paperwork that gets them paid.

Who is the NEMT broker in Florida?

Nobody holds Florida statewide: Florida has no statewide Medicaid NEMT broker, and that single fact kills half the guides on this subject. Each Medicaid managed care plan hires its own transportation manager, and riders outside managed care go through brokers contracted directly with AHCA under the state’s transportation waiver. Here’s the map as I can verify it in August 2026, from the plans’ and brokers’ own documents. Treat it as a starting point and confirm before you build on any row:

• Alivi runs rides for Sunshine Health, the state’s largest Medicaid plan, plus its Child Welfare, Serious Mental Illness, HIV/AIDS, and Long Term Care specialty plans, effective January 1, 2025, replacing ModivCare ^[4]. Alivi is Miami-based, and this was the biggest broker shift in the state in years.
• ModivCare holds Humana Healthy Horizons, Aetna Better Health, Community Care Plan (confirmed in CCP’s own July 2026 member handbook), and the rest of the AHCA fee-for-service lane: the legacy regions MTM doesn’t serve, which map to roughly Regions A, G, H, and I on the 2025 lettered map, the Panhandle plus the Treasure Coast, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade ^{[2][6][7][10]}. The brokers still publish the old numbers, so confirm your county against their own coverage pages.
• MTM Health manages all UnitedHealthcare Community Plan rides since March 1, 2026 ^[5], the fee-for-service lane in legacy regions 3 through 8, today’s Regions B through F, roughly Gainesville and Jacksonville down through Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Southwest Florida ^[2][8], and transportation for Sunshine’s Children’s Medical Services plan ^[4]. MTM also swallowed Access2Care, the old number-three broker, in October 2024 ^[14], and Molina’s rides run through that operation under the MTM Health name: Molina’s member materials route ride booking to MTM Health at 888-298-4781. Molina’s site blocks automated verification, like AHCA and FLHSMV, so confirm the arrangement with Molina provider services when you apply.
• Ride2MD serves Simply Healthcare statewide, including its Clear Health Alliance HIV/AIDS specialty plan (the same legal entity), per Simply’s own July 2026 provider resource guide, and Florida Community Care ^[9][11].

The same map plan by plan, as verified in August 2026 (AHCA’s own vendor list sits behind a bot-blocked, partly stale website, so this table is the accessible copy; every row names its source):

Two dates belong next to that map. ModivCare, the biggest name on it, filed Chapter 11 in August 2025 and emerged December 29, 2025 with more than 85 percent of its debt gone, operating throughout ^[13]. And the Children’s Medical Services plan itself moves from Sunshine to Molina on October 1, 2026, provider contracts not transferring ^[12], which will reshuffle that book again. Florida’s broker story is the same one our national broker tracker tells state by state: the trips never disappear, they change hands. In Florida they change hands plan by plan, which is quieter and easier to miss.

One warning about stale official paper: AHCA’s own site still surfaces documents from the LogistiCare era (LogistiCare became ModivCare in 2021) and the old numbered-region map. The program reorganized into nine lettered regions, A through I, when the 2025 contracts started ^[1][2], but the fee-for-service brokers still describe their territories with the old numbers ^[8]. The crosswalk, for the record: old regions 1 and 2 became Region A, 3 and 4 became Region B, and 5 through 11 became C through I in order ^[2]. Check the date on any vendor list you find, including the state’s.

Can I bill Florida Medicaid directly for NEMT?

Effectively no, not for van work, and this is where Florida surprises operators coming from fee-schedule states. Florida publishes no Medicaid NEMT reimbursement rates for van work: the current Transportation Services Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2025, prices exactly one category, ambulances. Non-emergency BLS ambulance pays $137.96, ALS pays $192.73, and everything else on the schedule is air ambulance or “as negotiated” ^[17]. There is no wheelchair van rate, no stretcher van rate, no ambulatory rate, and no ground mileage code. Any guide quoting you “Florida’s Medicaid wheelchair rate” is reading another state’s schedule.

What wheelchair and stretcher work pays in Florida is whatever the broker or plan pays: the state’s own coverage policy says non-ambulance NET services are reimbursed at “a mutually agreed upon negotiated rate” between the AHCA-contracted broker and the provider, and the same logic runs through the plan contracts ^[3]. Your rate sheet is a contract conversation, so know your cost per trip before you sign one, and ask to reopen the sheet annually. And a broker rate sheet is more than a per-trip number: it sets the base rate, the loaded-mile rate, wait-time pay, no-show and late-cancellation compensation, and after-hours and stretcher premiums, and none of those carry published Florida rates either, so any per-hour wait-time figure you read online is a guess. Get the wait-time and no-show terms in writing before you sign; they decide whether a day of facility runs actually pays.

You still need the state enrollment, though, and skipping it is the mistake that voids everything else. Under the federal managed care rules, plans must terminate network providers who aren’t enrolled with the state, and Florida plans enforce it: Sunshine Health’s provider guide lists the exact denial codes for claims from providers whose Medicaid ID isn’t active on AHCA’s provider master list ^[18]. Florida’s enrollment policy gives transportation companies two lanes: full enrollment if you’ll ever touch fee-for-service claims, and the lighter limited enrollment for managed-care-network-only work ^[18]. It runs through the online wizard at the Florida Medicaid Web Portal ^[19]. Two useful mechanics from the policy: the state must tell you about deficiencies in writing and you get 21 days to fix them, and your enrollment, once approved, runs from the date the state received your application ^[18][20].

What is Florida’s Transportation Disadvantaged program, and do I have to join it?

You don’t have to join Florida’s Transportation Disadvantaged program, and knowing that puts you ahead of most of the internet. Florida runs a coordinated transportation system under Chapter 427, Florida Statutes: a state Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged designates a Community Transportation Coordinator (CTC) for every county, and government money for transportation-disadvantaged riders must be spent through that coordinated system ^[37]. The obligation attaches to agencies spending government transportation funds, not to private companies. A NEMT business running broker, facility, and private-pay trips has no CTC obligation at all, and the Commission’s own annual report says plan- and agency-sponsored programs like Medicaid managed care “fall outside the Commission’s direct regulatory authority” ^[38][39].

What the coordinated system is, for you, is a fifth revenue lane. CTCs are required to subcontract trips to transportation operators where that’s cost-effective, private for-profit companies are eligible operators by statutory definition, and, per the Commission’s FY 2024-25 Annual Performance Report, the system moved 14.4 million trips on $427.6 million of revenue, about $52.9 million of it Trip and Equipment Grant money for riders no other program covers ^[37][39]. Subcontractors must be paid within 7 working days of the CTC getting paid (the rule ties this to s. 287.0585, Florida Statutes, the state’s subcontractor prompt-payment law), and the system’s minimum liability insurance is $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident under Rule 41-2.006, Florida Administrative Code ^[38][39]. Your county’s CTC is listed in the Commission’s annual report appendix; some are county governments, some are transit agencies, and one, in Alachua County, is a private for-profit operator ^[39]. One phone call tells you whether your county’s coordinator needs vans.

What licenses and requirements does a NEMT business need in Florida?

Florida has no state NEMT license: the state’s ambulance law licenses only advanced and basic life support services, Florida deregulated for-hire motor carrier authority decades ago, and what’s left is Medicaid enrollment, broker credentialing, and a county permit layer that ranges from nothing to a county commission hearing. The internet fills that vacuum with invented credentials, so here’s the short version against the sources:

The state layer: light, with two real rules

Two state-level rules do reach a van company. First, s. 316.302, Florida Statutes adopts the federal motor carrier safety regulations for intrastate commercial vehicles, but exempts vehicles under 26,001 pounds from most of it, leaving a short list: safe-operation rules, parts and equipment standards, systematic maintenance, and a driver daily inspection ^[29]. Keep maintenance records like they matter, because contractually they will. Second, whether an intrastate-only Florida carrier needs a USDOT number turns on thresholds our tooling couldn’t verify against FLHSMV’s bot-blocked pages; a typical sub-26,001-pound wheelchair van fleet almost certainly doesn’t, but confirm with FLHSMV before you letter the vans, and know that any interstate trip changes the answer entirely.

And one genuinely new wrinkle: Florida created statewide vehicle-for-hire license reciprocity in 2024, letting a permit from your home county work everywhere, but the law expressly excludes stretcher and wheelchair transportation from the reciprocity, in s. 320.0603(4), Florida Statutes ^[28]. Taxi operators got portability. NEMT still permits county by county.

The county layer: where Florida actually bites

Counties license vehicles for hire under s. 125.01(1)(n), Florida Statutes, and the big ones use it ^[36]:

• Miami-Dade requires a Non-Emergency Transportation Certificate, a county certificate of public convenience and necessity (COPCN) for wheelchair and stretcher transport, approved through a committee hearing and then the full county commission; the county’s own page says three to six months ^[30]. Fees per the current county fee schedule: $300 application, $625 annual certificate, $55 per driver chauffeur registration, and $38 to $70 vehicle inspections at the county station ^[31]. Budget the calendar, not just the money.
• Broward licenses nonemergency medical transportation companies through its Consumer Protection Division, permits each vehicle, and registers every for-hire driver with fingerprint background checks ^[32]. Fees are set by board resolution and the county’s posted forms have moved; call the division at 954-765-1700 for current numbers.
• Hillsborough abolished its old Public Transportation Commission in 2017 and now runs vehicle-for-hire licensing through the county tax collector: a $300 business certificate, $150 per vehicle per year, a $65 driver badge, 125/250/50 insurance (or $300,000 combined single limit), and an annual ASE-mechanic inspection. Its ordinance calls NEMT vehicles “handicabs,” and handicab drivers need first aid, CPR, and defensive driving certificates ^[33].
• Palm Beach folds “non-medical wheelchair and stretcher transportation” companies into its vehicle-for-hire ordinance with a two-vehicle fleet minimum, annual ASE inspections, and 125/250/50 or $300,000 CSL insurance; the county’s posted application also lists a $10,000 initial fee for a brand-new vehicle-for-hire business, a number startling enough that you should confirm it with Consumer Affairs at 561-712-6600 before you pick your county ^[34].
• Pinellas goes the other way on paper and the same way in practice: its county commission, sitting as the EMS Authority, approves certificates even for non-medical wheelchair and stretcher van providers, and publishes the approved list ^[35].
• Elsewhere, assume nothing. Orange County itself shows no vehicle-for-hire program, but the City of Orlando permits vehicles and drivers through its police department, and the airport wants its own permit on top ^[36]. Jacksonville regulates vehicles for hire under its municipal code. Several counties, Pinellas’s neighbors included, have no program at all. Budget a week of phone calls to your county and city before you buy anything; it’s the cheapest insurance in this guide.

What are the NEMT insurance requirements in Florida?

Plan on roughly $1 million combined single limit commercial auto plus general liability: the bar Florida brokers and plans actually enforce in credentialing, not the state floor, and certainly not the $100,000-general-liability-plus-25/50/25 figures some guides quote, which trace to no Florida source at all. MTM publishes a $1 million combined single limit standard for auto and general liability on its provider pages, ModivCare publishes the coverage types (general liability, auto, sexual abuse and molestation, workers’ comp) with limits “varying by state,” and Florida plan contracts layer their own schedules on top ^[50][51][40].

The four bars, in one place:

The statutory floor, for the record, is strange enough to be a trivia question. Florida requires taxicabs to carry $125,000/$250,000/$50,000 under s. 324.032, Florida Statutes, but a for-hire passenger vehicle that isn’t a taxicab or limousine can satisfy state financial responsibility with an ordinary liability policy, and Florida famously doesn’t even require bodily injury coverage on ordinary private vehicles, just $10,000 of PIP and $10,000 of property damage ^[24][25][26]. So the state floor for a wheelchair van is close to nothing, the county floors (125/250/50 or $300,000 CSL in Hillsborough and Palm Beach) are the real legal minimums where they apply ^[33][34], the coordinated system wants $200,000/$300,000 ^[38], and the broker bar is the number you’ll actually buy. Nobody in this business should insure anywhere near a floor anyway; one bad securement claim ends an underinsured company.

What it costs is the honest bad news. Florida commercial auto is among the most expensive in the country, and the bands NEMT consultancies report from actual quotes run roughly $5,000 to $8,500 per year for ambulatory sedans and $7,000 to $11,500 for wheelchair vans, with Miami-Dade operators regularly quoted $13,000 and up ^[52]. First-year operators pay more until the first clean renewal. Only a handful of carriers write Florida NEMT, so use an agent who places medical transport risks every week, get quotes before you commit to a vehicle, and don’t bind coverage until trips are close.

Workers’ compensation arrives at your fourth employee: Florida requires coverage for non-construction businesses with four or more employees, full or part time, and up to 10 LLC members with at least 10 percent ownership can exempt themselves out, per the Department of Financial Services ^[27]. A two-founder LLC with two drivers is standing exactly on the line, so plan the policy before hire number two.

What do NEMT drivers need in Florida?

NEMT drivers in Florida don’t need a CDL, not for a typical wheelchair van. A commercial license starts at 26,001 pounds or a vehicle designed to carry more than 15 people including the driver, under s. 322.01, Florida Statutes, and an ordinary Class E license covers everything below that ^[23]. Florida has no chauffeur license and no Class D license at all, whatever a template guide tells you ^[23].

The background screening story is the one competitor guides get wrong in both directions. Owners, officers, and anyone with 5 percent or more of a Medicaid-enrolled company need Level 2 fingerprint screening, run through AHCA’s Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, under s. 409.907, Florida Statutes ^[20]. But the same statute expressly carves drivers out: “Nonemergency transportation drivers who are employed or contracted with transportation companies, transportation network companies, or transportation brokers are not subject to a level 2 background screening but must comply with a level 1 background screening” or an AHCA-approved equivalent ^[20][53]. So “every driver needs Level 2” is wrong, and so is skipping screening entirely. Fingerprints for the Level 2 cost $36 in state and FBI fees plus the vendor’s service charge, results usually come back within 24 to 72 hours, and prints stay in the Clearinghouse for five years ^[21][22].

What your drivers actually need day to day is the broker file: ModivCare publishes its list as hands-on wheelchair securement (PASS) certification, current first aid and CPR, defensive driving certification, a drug screen, a clean driving record, and a background check, and the other networks ask for close variants ^[50][51]. The hiring floor most operators actually staff to is also contract, not statute: broker packets typically want drivers 21 or older, several years licensed, and a multi-year driving record with few or no moving violations, so read your packet before you post the job ^[50][51]. Add the county layer where it exists: Miami-Dade chauffeur registration at $55 a year ^[31], Broward’s fingerprint-backed driver registration ^[32], Hillsborough’s $65 driver badge with first aid, CPR, and defensive driving for handicab work ^[33]. One more rule worth writing into your driver handbook: Florida Medicaid requires providers to carry an eligible rider’s escort free of charge, and the escort can’t be the driver or one of your employees ^[3].

Can a NEMT company run stretcher van trips in Florida?

Yes: Florida allows stretcher van trips outside the ambulance system for stable riders, and the dividing line is written into the definitions. Florida’s ambulance law defines an ambulance as a vehicle used for transporting people “requiring or likely to require medical attention during transport,” in s. 401.23, Florida Statutes, and requires a state license plus a county certificate of public convenience and necessity (COPCN) only for advanced and basic life support transportation services ^[15]. A stable rider who needs a stretcher but no medical attention en route sits outside that definition. Florida Medicaid agrees: its coverage policy lists “medical vehicles (wheelchair or stretcher vans)” as their own provider category, separate from ambulances ^[3]. The state licenses just seven BLS providers statewide, which tells you Florida’s non-emergency stretcher market isn’t running on ambulance licenses ^[16].

The line you can never cross is the rider’s condition and your crew’s conduct. Medical attention en route, oxygen managed by an attendant, monitoring, anything clinical, makes it an ambulance trip requiring the Chapter 401 license, and the statute reaches companies that merely advertise medical-level service, so market stretcher work as transportation, never as care ^[15]. Put the line in your dispatch protocols in writing.

Then the county layer, which hits stretcher work hardest: Miami-Dade’s non-emergency certificate exists precisely for stretcher and wheelchair vans ^[30], Broward’s license covers vehicles for riders who “do not need, nor are likely to need, immediate medical attention during transport” ^[32], and Pinellas puts even non-medical stretcher van providers through county commission approval ^[35]. Same state, different counties, different paperwork. Before you buy a stretcher van, one call to your county settles which regime you’re in. And don’t budget from a phantom rate: Florida publishes no Medicaid stretcher van rate; that trip pays whatever your broker contract says it pays ^[17].

How do you become a Florida Medicaid NEMT provider and get broker work?

Becoming a NEMT provider in Florida is a two-track process: enroll with the state for your Medicaid ID, and credential separately with each broker whose plans cover your counties. Neither track sends you a single rider by itself.

Track one: the state enrollment

Florida Medicaid enrollment runs through the online wizard at the Florida Medicaid Web Portal ^[19]. Transportation is provider type 41, and the state’s February 2026 enrollment policy lets a transportation company enroll fully (required if you’ll ever bill fee-for-service) or as a limited enrolled provider for managed care network work, the lane most NEMT startups actually need ^[18]. The application wants your entity papers, proof of liability insurance at $100,000 per person and $200,000 per incident, and Level 2 screening for everyone disclosed on the application ^[18][20]. Non-emergency transportation is classified as a limited screening risk category, so there’s no pre-enrollment site visit ^[18]. One document competitor guides never mention: the policy’s required-documents list for non-emergency transportation includes an AHCA Medicaid provider surety bond, Form 5000-1064, waived if you’re contracted through the transportation coordinator; for a new provider the statute caps the bond at $50,000, and what you actually pay is the premium on it ^[18][20]. Two honest notes: the policy contains no application fee for transportation providers as far as its own text goes, and the state publishes no processing-time promise at all, only your 21-day window to fix deficiencies; observed timelines cluster around one to four months, and that range is operator-reported, not official ^[18].

Track two: the brokers

Every broker is its own application, its own requirements packet, and its own unpublished queue, and the big ones are need-gated in plain text. MTM: “If we don’t have an immediate need in your area, we’ll keep your information on file and reach out when we have opportunities” ^[51]. ModivCare recruits for “priority areas where we urgently need support” ^[50]. Neither publishes a Florida timeline; the only waitlist number MTM publishes anywhere is 8 to 12 months, for Rhode Island, which at least tells you the unit of measurement is months ^[51]. MTM’s process runs application, interview, contracting, credentialing, training, first trip ^[51]. Alivi and Ride2MD publish even less; Alivi’s network questions go through its provider team, and Ride2MD, which holds Simply Healthcare and Florida Community Care, has no published application at all, so it takes direct outreach ^[9][11].

Which brings up the catch-22 every Florida startup hits: brokers add providers where they need capacity, and they like operating history, which you can’t build on trips they haven’t given you. The answer is the payer that doesn’t need permission: private pay and facility work first, Medicaid volume layered on as the credentials land. Our guides on winning facility contracts, getting your first trip from a facility meeting, and private pay are the playbook for those first months. Wheelchair capacity, stretcher capability, rural counties, and weekend hours are what brokers struggle to source; if that’s what you bring, say so in the application.

Don’t build the whole schedule on one payer

Everything above gets you into Florida Medicaid work. Here’s the caution the last eighteen months should staple to every Florida business plan: in this state, broker volume is borrowed volume, plan by plan.

Run the tape again: Sunshine’s book moved to Alivi in January 2025 ^[4]. UnitedHealthcare’s moved to MTM in March 2026 ^[5]. ModivCare spent the fall of 2025 in bankruptcy court ^[13]. The Children’s Medical Services book moves to Molina this October, and provider contracts explicitly don’t transfer ^[12]. Not one of those events asked any van operator’s permission, and every one of them re-dealt somebody’s schedule. Marqus Johnson, a Tampa operator and coach who came on our podcast this summer, said the quiet part cleanly: “If you allow a broker to send you as many trips as humanly possible, they’re happy to do so. And as long as you complete them, they could care less.” The relationship is real. The loyalty is contractual.

Florida’s structure actually makes the hedge easier than a single-broker state. There are four broker networks instead of one, a fee-for-service lane, sixty-seven county coordinators taking subcontractors, more dialysis chairs than almost anywhere, and the deepest private-pay demographics in America. (Georgia has exactly one broker door; California has dozens of plan doors and no state lane. Florida sits between them.) Spread across two or three of those, and no procurement season can zero your schedule.

However you mix payers, don’t run the brokers’ trips in one system and your own in a legal pad. Dispatch software like Duet that pulls broker trip files in alongside facility and private-pay work keeps one schedule, one driver app, and one billing trail across all of it.

How much does it cost to start a NEMT business in Florida?

Plan on roughly $15,000 to $45,000 to put the first wheelchair van on the road legally in Florida, dominated by the vehicle and the insurance, with your county choice moving the number more than anything the state charges. Start ambulatory-only with a sedan and the same math lands roughly $10,000 to $25,000, because the lift and the wheelchair-van insurance premium drop out ^[52]; launch three to five wheelchair vans at once and you’re into six figures before the first trip. The line items, from the sections above:

Anyone quoting a $5,000 Florida launch hasn’t priced Florida commercial auto, and the guides quoting $50,000 to $100,000 are pricing new vehicles at $30,000 to $60,000 each; buy used and mechanically sound, like the table says, and the same launch runs $15,000 to $45,000.

And about revenue: you’ll see “$250,000 to $500,000 per vehicle per year” in AI-written guides, and Google’s answer box sometimes repeats it. Run the arithmetic: $250,000 a year is about $21,000 a month, a realistic solo-run van does roughly 100 trip legs a month, and even a maxed-out dialysis route caps around 250, so the projection needs somewhere between $83 and $208 from every single leg, all year, which no Florida broker contract pays. Real per-vehicle gross is a function of your payer mix, with private pay carrying the margin. Build the model on legs per day times your own blended rate, not on a number invented to sell a course.

If the savings account doesn’t cover it: SBA 7(a) loans and microloans (up to $50,000, averaging around $13,000) finance vehicles and working capital ^[47], and the Florida SBDC Network advises for free from 40-plus offices statewide ^[48]. Two warnings that beat most guides’ funding sections: Florida’s Microfinance Loan Program was repealed in 2023, and Enterprise Florida was dissolved into FloridaCommerce the same year, so guides still routing you to either are years stale; the state’s surviving Microfinance Guarantee Program backs loans of $50,000 to $250,000 for small borrowers on paper, but confirm it’s actively guaranteeing with FloridaCommerce before you count on it ^[49]. None of this speeds up a county hearing or a broker queue, so borrow against the timeline you actually face.

How long does it take to start a NEMT business in Florida?

Plan on two to five months in Florida from first paperwork to first Medicaid trips, with the county certificate (where you need one) and broker credentialing as the two clocks you don’t control. Private-pay revenue can start as soon as you’re insured and permitted. A realistic sequence:

1. Weeks 1-2. LLC ($125), EIN, NPI, local business tax receipt. Map your region’s plans and their brokers, call your county about vehicle-for-hire or NEMT permits, and price a trip with two local competitors. In Miami-Dade, file the county certificate application now; it’s the longest pole in the state ^[30].
2. Weeks 2-4. Insurance quotes at the broker bar from an NEMT-savvy agent. Pick the van after you know the premium; buy used and mechanically sound; spec lift, securement, and A/C.
3. Weeks 3-6. Owners’ Level 2 screening, driver files (Level 1, drug screen, MVR, CPR, first aid, securement training), county driver registrations where required. Submit the Florida Medicaid enrollment and every relevant broker application in the same week.
4. Months 2-4. While the queues run: facility visits, website, Google Business Profile, private-pay rate card, first cash trips, and a call to your county CTC about subcontracting. This is revenue that doesn’t wait on anyone’s need review.
5. Months 2-5. Enrollment lands, broker contracts land where the networks have need, first Medicaid trips arrive plan by plan. Run every early trip flawlessly and ask for the review; in this business the second trip comes from the first one.

Budget per the cost breakdown above, and save 3 to 6 months of expenses on top: break-even comes months after launch, and even paying customers pay slowly.

Florida NEMT FAQ

Does Florida require a NEMT license?

No. Florida has no state NEMT license for ambulatory and wheelchair service: the state ambulance law reaches only ALS and BLS transport ^[15][16], and the state deregulated for-hire operating authority decades ago ^[36]. Your real requirements are Florida Medicaid enrollment if you want Medicaid work ^[18], broker credentialing, and whatever your county requires, which ranges from a business tax receipt to Miami-Dade’s board-approved certificate ^[30].

Who is the NEMT broker in Florida?

Nobody holds Florida statewide. Each Medicaid managed care plan hires its own transportation manager: Alivi for Sunshine Health ^[4], ModivCare for Humana, Aetna, and Community Care Plan ^[6][10], MTM Health for UnitedHealthcare ^[5], and Ride2MD for Simply Healthcare (including Clear Health Alliance) and Florida Community Care ^[9][11]. Riders outside managed care go through brokers contracted directly with AHCA, split between ModivCare and MTM Health ^[7][8]. Verify your counties’ assignments before you build on any row, because two of the biggest changed hands since January 2025.

Can I bill Florida Medicaid directly for NEMT rides?

Effectively no, not for wheelchair van work. Florida’s current transportation fee schedule prices only ambulance codes ^[17]; wheelchair, stretcher van, and ambulatory NEMT pay at rates negotiated with the broker or plan that assigns the trip ^[3]. You still need a Florida Medicaid provider ID, usually the limited enrollment for managed care network work, because plans deny claims from providers who aren’t on the state’s provider file ^[18].

What are Florida’s Medicaid NEMT reimbursement rates?

There are none to look up for van work. Florida’s current fee schedule prices only ambulance codes, non-emergency BLS at $137.96 and ALS at $192.73, with no wheelchair, stretcher, ambulatory, or ground mileage rate ^[17]. Wheelchair and stretcher van rates are negotiated with each broker or plan ^[3], so the per-trip schedules other guides print trace to no Florida document. Your contract is the rate.

How much does it cost to start a NEMT business in Florida?

Plan on roughly $15,000 to $45,000 to put the first wheelchair van on the road legally, dominated by the vehicle and insurance: the LLC costs $125 plus a $138.75 annual report ^[46], commercial auto runs roughly $7,000 to $11,500 a year per wheelchair van in the quotes consultancies report ^[52], and county permits range from almost nothing to Miami-Dade’s $300 application plus $625 a year ^[31]. There is no state NEMT license fee, because no state NEMT license exists ^[15]. Save 3 to 6 months of expenses on top.

How much does a NEMT business make in Florida?

There’s no defensible published Florida figure, and the $250,000-per-van claims in AI-written guides fail arithmetic. Build the model honestly: legs per day, times your blended per-leg rate across payers, times working days, minus insurance, fuel, and wages. A realistic solo-run van does roughly 100 trip legs a month, a maxed-out dialysis route around 250, and payer mix decides the margin, with the private-pay work you price yourself carrying the top end.

Do NEMT drivers need a CDL in Florida?

No CDL, not for a typical wheelchair van. A commercial license starts at 26,001 pounds or a vehicle designed for more than 15 people including the driver ^[23], and Florida has no chauffeur license or Class D license at all ^[23]. An ordinary Class E license covers the van; plan instead for the broker’s driver file ^[50] and county driver registrations in Miami-Dade and Broward ^[31][32].

Do Florida NEMT drivers need a Level 2 background check?

By statute, no: owners and principals of a Medicaid-enrolled company need fingerprint-based Level 2 screening, but nonemergency transportation drivers are expressly allowed to work on a Level 1 name-based screening or an AHCA-approved equivalent ^[20][53]. Individual brokers and plans can contractually require more, so check your credentialing packet.

What are the vehicle requirements for NEMT in Florida?

Florida has no state vehicle spec and no periodic state vehicle inspection ^[30][33][34]. The real requirements come from three places: county permit programs (Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, and Palm Beach inspect vehicles annually) ^[31][33][34], broker onboarding standards, which commonly cap vehicle age and mileage ^[50][51], and plan contracts, which put lifts or ramps, four-point securement, two-way communication, and working air conditioning in writing ^[40].

Are stretcher van trips allowed in Florida?

Yes: Florida allows stretcher van trips outside the ambulance system for stable riders. Florida’s ambulance law only reaches transport of people requiring or likely to require medical attention during the ride ^[15], and Florida Medicaid lists wheelchair and stretcher vans as their own provider category ^[3]. The moment a rider needs care en route it’s an ambulance trip, and several counties require a certificate for non-emergency stretcher work ^[30][32][35], so call your county first.

How long does it take to start a NEMT business in Florida?

Plan on two to five months in Florida from first paperwork to first Medicaid trips. The paperwork itself moves quickly; the real clocks are county certificates, which in Miami-Dade take three to six months with a county board hearing ^[30], and broker credentialing, which is need-gated and unpublished ^[50][51]. Private-pay and facility revenue can start as soon as you’re insured and permitted.

Is the Florida NEMT market worth entering in 2026?

The demand math says yes: roughly 3.9 million people on Florida Medicaid ^[41], 533 dialysis facilities ^[44], one of the oldest age profiles in the country with 1.5 million more seniors arriving this decade ^[42][43], and only about 295 transportation companies actively enrolled with Florida Medicaid ^[45]. The caution is churn: broker assignments moved twice in the last two years ^[4][5], so enter with trip sources you control.

Key official sources

[1] AHCA, Statewide Medicaid Managed Care 3.0 overview presentation (January 24, 2025): February 1, 2025 go-live, 2025-2030 contracts, region redesign, program scale. https://faba.memberclicks.net/assets/PublicPolicy/AHCA/Statewide%20Medicaid%20Managed%20Care-Behavior%20Analysis%20Presentation-1-24-2025.pdf

[2] s. 409.966(2), Fla. Stat., the nine SMMC regions (A through I) defined county by county. https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/409.966

[3] Florida Medicaid Non-Emergency Transportation Services Coverage Policy (November 2019), incorporated by Rule 59G-4.330, F.A.C.: plan obligations, eligible provider types including wheelchair/stretcher vans, escort rule, negotiated-rate reimbursement. https://www.flrules.org/gateway/readRefFile.asp?refId=11228&filename=59G-4.330%20NET%20Coverage%20Policy_2019_FINAL.docx and https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleno.asp?id=59G-4.330

[4] Sunshine Health, Alivi transportation transition FAQ and provider transportation pages: Alivi effective January 1, 2025, replacing ModivCare; MTM administering the CMS Health Plan. https://www.sunshinehealth.com/members/medicaid/benefits-services/transportation-services/alivi-faq.html and https://www.sunshinehealth.com/providers/Specialty-services/MemberTransportation/Frequently-asked-questions.html

[5] UnitedHealthcare provider news: MTM Health managing all Florida Community Plan NEMT effective March 1, 2026. https://www.uhcprovider.com/en/resource-library/news/2026/fl-medicaid-mtm-health-nemt.html

[6] ModivCare Florida member page: plan lines served (Humana MMA/LTC, Aetna Better Health, Community Care Plan, AHCA fee-for-service). https://www.mymodivcare.com/members/fl/

[7] ModivCare, Florida AHCA NEMT member handbook (posted May 2025): the fee-for-service broker lane, booking rules. https://www.mymodivcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Florida-AHCA-Handbook-English.pdf

[8] MTM Health, Florida fee-for-service NEMT page: regions 3 through 8, non-managed-care riders, $1 copay. https://www.mtm-inc.net/floridaffs/

[9] Simply Healthcare Plans, SMMC provider resource guide (July 2026): Ride2MD, nonemergency transportation statewide. https://provider.simplyhealthcareplans.com/docs/gpp/FLFL_SMH_SimplyResourceGuide.pdf?v=202503032005

[10] Community Care Plan, Medicaid member handbook (dated July 1, 2026): ModivCare as the transportation vendor. https://www.ccpcares.org/wp-content/uploads/Medicaid-Member-Handbook.pdf

[11] Florida Community Care, care resources page: Ride2MD transportation. https://fcchealthplan.com/find-the-care-you-need/

[12] Sunshine Health newsroom: CMS Health Plan transitions to Molina Healthcare October 1, 2026; provider contracts don’t transfer. https://www.sunshinehealth.com/newsroom/cms.html

[13] ModivCare restructuring press releases (SEC Form 8-K exhibits): the August 20, 2025 Chapter 11 filing announcement, and the emergence December 29, 2025 with debt reduced more than 85 percent and services uninterrupted. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1220754/000143774925027478/ex_855729.htm and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1220754/000143774925038831/ex_902789.htm

[14] MTM Health press release: acquisition of Access2Care finalized (October 2024). https://www.mtm-inc.net/mtm-finalizes-acquisition-of-access2care-expanding-market-leadership-in-nemt-sector/

[15] ss. 401.23 and 401.25, Fla. Stat.: the ambulance definition (“requiring or likely to require medical attention during transport”) and ALS/BLS licensure with county COPCN. https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/401.23 and https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/401.25

[16] Florida Department of Health, EMS service provider licensing page: BLS/ALS/air licensure only, provider counts, fees. https://www.floridahealth.gov/licensing-regulations/emergency-medical-services-system/ems-service-provider/

[17] Florida Medicaid Transportation Services Fee Schedule (effective January 1, 2025), incorporated by Rule 59G-4.002, F.A.C.: ambulance codes only. https://www.flrules.org/gateway/readRefFile.asp?refId=18332&filename=Transportation%20Services%20Fee%20Schedule%20January%201%202025.pdf

[18] Florida Medicaid Provider Enrollment Policy (February 2026), incorporated by Rule 59G-1.060, F.A.C.: full vs. limited enrollment, transportation provider type 41, screening risk categories, insurance proof, 21-day deficiency window; plan-side enforcement per Sunshine Health’s AHCA enrollment guide. https://www.flrules.org/gateway/readRefFile.asp?refId=19181&filename=Florida%20Medicaid%20Provider%20Enrollment%20Policy%20February%202026.pdf and https://www.sunshinehealth.com/newsroom/mma-enrollment-guide.html

[19] Florida Medicaid Web Portal, provider enrollment (the online wizard, nine-digit provider IDs). https://portal.flmmis.com/FLPublic/Provider_ProviderServices/Provider_Enrollment/tabId/42/Default.aspx

[20] ss. 409.907, 435.03, and 435.04, Fla. Stat.: Level 2 screening for providers and principals; the Level 1 carve-out for nonemergency transportation drivers; what each screening level contains. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0409/Sections/0409.907.html and https://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2025/435.04

[21] Florida Department of Health, background screening Clearinghouse FAQs: five-year print retention, 24-72 hour results. https://flhealthsource.gov/background-screening/bgs-faqs/

[22] FDLE, criminal history record check fee schedule (effective January 1, 2025): $24 state plus $12 FBI, Clearinghouse and retention fee notes. https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/getContentAsset/113db017-5b31-49f1-a932-08e711dd560e/73aabf56-e6e5-4330-95a3-5f2a270a1d2b/Criminal-History-Fee-Chart_January2025_Final.pdf?language=en

[23] ss. 322.01 and 322.54, Fla. Stat.: commercial motor vehicle definition (26,001 lbs / more than 15 persons), CDL classes A-C only, Class E coverage. https://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2025/322.01 and https://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2025/322.54

[24] ch. 324, Fla. Stat. (ss. 324.021, 324.022, 324.031, 324.032): financial responsibility amounts, the taxicab 125/250/50 floor, and the ordinary-policy option for non-taxi for-hire vehicles. https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399%2F0324%2F0324.html

[25] s. 627.7415, Fla. Stat.: commercial motor vehicle insurance floors beginning at 26,000 pounds. https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699%2F0627%2FSections%2F0627.7415.html

[26] The Florida Bar, consumer pamphlet on automobile insurance: PIP/PDL requirements; bodily injury liability “generally not required.” https://www.floridabar.org/public/consumer/tip002/

[27] Florida Department of Financial Services, workers’ compensation coverage requirements and non-construction exemptions. https://myfloridacfo.com/division/wc/employee/employer-coverage-requirements and https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/wc/employer/exemptions/non-construction

[28] ch. 2024-28, Laws of Florida (s. 320.0603, Fla. Stat.): vehicle-for-hire license reciprocity, with subsection (4) excluding stretcher and wheelchair transportation. http://laws.flrules.org/2024/28

[29] s. 316.302, Fla. Stat.: federal motor carrier safety regulations for intrastate carriers and the under-26,001-pound exemption. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0316/Sections/0316.302.html

[30] Miami-Dade County, Non-Emergency Transportation Certificate: scope, county commission approval, three-to-six-month timeline. https://www.miamidade.gov/global/license.page?Mduid_license=lic1500577699583202

[31] Miami-Dade County Implementing Order 4-136, for-hire transportation fee schedule: certificate, chauffeur registration, and inspection fees. https://documents.miamidade.gov/ao-io/IO/IO-04-136.pdf

[32] Broward County Consumer Protection Division, medical transport service licensing. https://www.broward.org/Consumer/ConsumerProtection/Pages/Medical-Transport-Service.aspx

[33] Hillsborough County Tax Collector, vehicle-for-hire business information and fees (Ordinance 17-22, the “handicab” category). https://www.hillstaxfl.gov/other-services/vehicle-for-hire/business-information/ and https://www.hillstaxfl.gov/other-services/vehicle-for-hire/payments-fees/

[34] Palm Beach County Consumer Affairs, vehicle-for-hire business application (fees, insurance, the non-medical wheelchair and stretcher category). https://discover.pbcgov.org/publicsafety/consumeraffairs/CA_PDFs/VFHBusinessApp.pdf

[35] Pinellas County, ambulance and transport services: county-approved certificates for wheelchair and stretcher transport providers. https://pinellas.gov/safety-emergency-services-transports/

[36] Florida House of Representatives, staff analysis of CS/HB 377 (2024): the county-by-county vehicle-for-hire regime, s. 125.01(1)(n) authority, City of Orlando permit fees. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/377/Analyses/h0377e.COM.PDF

[37] ch. 427, Fla. Stat. (ss. 427.011, 427.013, 427.016): the Transportation Disadvantaged coordinated system, CTC definitions, and the funds-based coordination mandate. https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/Chapter427/All

[38] Rule 41-2.006, F.A.C.: the coordinated system’s $200,000/$300,000 minimum liability insurance (effective September 3, 2018) and the 7-working-day subcontractor payment rule tied to s. 287.0585, Fla. Stat. https://flrules.org/gateway/ruleno.asp?id=41-2.006 and https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/florida/Fla-Admin-Code-Ann-R-41-2-006

[39] Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged, Annual Performance Report FY 2024-25: system trips and revenues, Trip & Equipment Grant, CTC contact list, purchasing-agency programs outside the Commission’s authority. https://fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/ctd/archive/studiesreports/2024-2025-ctd-annual-report.pdf?sfvrsn=f2f0e6be_1

[40] Community Care Plan, 2026 non-emergency transportation services RFP: Florida plan-contract requirements flowing down to providers (insurance, Level 1 drivers, ch. 427 and Rules 41-2/14-90 compliance, vehicle equipment). https://ccpcares.org/wp-content/uploads/2026-Transportation-RFP-03.25.2026vF.pdf

[41] Florida Legislature, Office of Economic and Demographic Research, Social Services Estimating Conference (July 2026): Medicaid caseload, managed care share, expenditure forecast. https://edr.state.fl.us/content/conferences/medicaid/execsummary.pdf and https://edr.state.fl.us/content/conferences/medicaid/managedcarefeeforservice.pdf

[42] BEBR/EDR, Florida Estimates of Population (April 1, 2025), Table 14: 65-and-older shares by county. https://edr.state.fl.us/content/population-demographics/data/Estimates2025.pdf

[43] EDR, Florida population by age group (projections to 2030/2040) and the June 2026 Demographic Estimating Conference executive summary. https://edr.state.fl.us/content/population-demographics/data/Pop_Census_Day-2023.pdf and https://edr.state.fl.us/content/conferences/population/demographicsummary.pdf

[44] CMS Provider Data Catalog, Dialysis Facilities dataset (Florida counts as of August 2026). https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/23ew-n7w9

[45] Florida Medicaid Provider Master List (FLMMIS portal download, August 26, 2026): ~295 active provider IDs with the NEMT van taxonomy; CMS NPPES NPI Registry API: 2,975 Florida NPIs with taxonomy 343900000X. https://portal.flmmis.com/FLPublic/Provider_ProviderServices/Provider_ManagedCare/tabId/61/Default.aspx and https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/

[46] Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz), LLC fees and annual report deadlines. https://dos.fl.gov/sunbiz/forms/fees/llc-fees/ and https://dos.fl.gov/sunbiz/manage-business/efile/annual-report/

[47] U.S. Small Business Administration: microloans and 7(a) loan programs. https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/microloans and https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/7a-loans

[48] Florida SBDC Network, no-cost small business consulting statewide. https://floridasbdc.org/

[49] s. 288.9935, Fla. Stat. (Microfinance Guarantee Program); the companion direct-loan program (former s. 288.9934) no longer appears in the statutes. https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/288.9935

[50] ModivCare, transportation provider requirements: driver credentials, vehicle standards, insurance coverage types. https://www.modivcare.com/transportation-providers-contact-us/

[51] MTM Health, provider onboarding pages: the six-step process, need-gated network language, published Rhode Island waitlist example. https://www.mtm-inc.net/driverswanted/ and https://www.mtm-inc.net/service-providers/

[52] Elite Med Financials, NEMT insurance cost reporting (2026): Florida premium bands as reported from quoting activity; market color, not official rates. https://elitemedfinancials.com/nemt-insurance-cost/

[53] s. 316.87, Fla. Stat.: nonemergency medical transportation services by TNCs, driver screening equivalence, and preservation of ch. 401 ambulance licensure. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0300-0399/0316/Sections/0316.87.html

[54] BraunAbility, wheelchair van pricing example (2026 Chrysler Pacifica base plus Power XT conversion, $88,685 total MSRP). https://www.braunability.com/us/en/help-me-buy/wheelchair-van-understanding-pricing.html

Last verified against the sources above in August 2026. Florida requirements, plan contracts, and broker assignments change, and several of the sites that matter here (AHCA, FLHSMV, and Molina’s member pages among them) block automated verification entirely; check the primary sources before acting, and treat this guide as education, not legal advice.