SAVE NEMT
A CTA campaign to restore non-emergency medical transportation services in Colorado.
When the ride disappears, so does the care.
Colorado is losing the Medicaid medical transportation that gets people to dialysis and cancer treatment. A 2026 change to how the state pays for these trips has made the service impossible to keep running. It's fixable, and there's something you can do today.
We're asking the Joint Budget Committee, state legislators, and Governor Polis to keep Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation running in Colorado by correcting the provider rate to a level companies can actually operate on, before the change takes effect July 1, 2026.
This is not a partisan issue. It is a fixable problem.
--- WHAT'S HAPPENING
A required service, funded below the cost of providing it.
Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) is how thousands of rural Coloradans get to dialysis, cancer treatment, and other medically necessary care when they have no other way there. It is a required Medicaid benefit.
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The 2026 change to Colorado's NEMT provider rate has dropped what the state pays for these trips below what it costs to provide them. When the rate falls below the cost of operating, the service stops.
--- BY THE NUMBERS
The need is documented. The stakes are local.
5.8M
People in the U.S. who delayed or went without medical care in a single year because they had no way to get there.
39,729
Health First Colorado members in Mesa County alone (Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade) -- the neighbors who count on Medicaid for their care.
125 miles
The round-trip distance Colorado's own Medicaid rules allow a rural rider to travel for care, raised from 52 miles in September 2025.
--- THE RISK ---
When a ride is the difference between care and crisis.
A missed dialysis session is a medical emergency.
Not a missed appointment. Dialysis patients need treatment three times a week. Missing sessions is dangerous and can be fatal, and the longest gaps roughly double the risk of hospitalization or death.
National Kidney Foundation; NHIR.
In rural Colorado, there is no backup.
When NEMT providers halt services, the ride is simply gone. There is no one waiting in the wings to pick up the trips.
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Cancer treatment can't wait for a better budget cycle.
Radiation is often daily for weeks, and rural patients already travel nearly three times as far for care as urban patients (about 40.8 miles versus 15.4). Lose the ride, and the treatment is missed.
CancerNetwork; Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Under paying for rides costs the state more.
Transportation barriers account for a quarter to half of missed appointments among the patients they affect, and that missed preventive and chronic care comes back as far costlier emergency-room visits and hospital stays that Medicaid pays for anyway. A workable rate is the cheaper path.
PMC / NCBI
Federal law already requires a workable rate
NEMT is a required Medicaid benefit, and federal law conditions funding on a payment method that is consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care. A ride that exists on paper but that no provider can afford to drive does not meet that standard.
MACPAC; Medicaid.gov
--- TAKE ACTION ---
Two minutes can keep a neighbor's ride to care alive.
Pick any one of the actions below. Personal messages count most. A sentence in your own words matters more than a perfect form letter.
ACTION 01 (STRONGEST ACTION)
Contact the Joint Budget Committee
The JBC drafts the state budget and is the most direct body for fixing the funding.
303-866-2587
ACTION 03
Contact the Governor
Gov. Polis signs the budget and oversees the state Medicaid agency. The official contact form is the most reliable channel.
ACTION 02
Find and contact your legislators
A message to the legislator who represents where you live carries a lot of weight. Enter your home address, then use the contact info shown for your State Senator and your State Representative.
Subject: Please keep Medicaid rides running. Treatment depends on it.
Here's a ready-made message
"Hi, my name is [your name], and I am a constituent from [town or ZIP code].
I am calling about the 2026 cut to Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation rates. The new provider rate is too low for transportation companies to keep operating, and people in my area are about to lose the rides they depend on to get to [dialysis, cancer treatment, and other medical care].
I am asking [the Representative / the Senator / the Governor] to support correcting the NEMT provider rate to a level that keeps this service running -- so patients can access care".
You can help by sharing this message.
Copy and paste the URL above. Share it with people that want to make a difference for Coloradans who rely on NEMT to access essential care.
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Fill out the form with your contact information. We will reach out with news as the situation develops.