A0398 Medicaid reimbursement rate by state (2026)

• Order. States are listed from the highest published rate to the lowest. No single unit is shared by 8 or more states for A0398, so the order is by published amount and is not a like-for-like rank.
• Medicaid rate. The most the state's fee-for-service program pays for one unit, as published. 5 of the 9 states list more than one rate for A0398, by modifier, provider type or setting; the table shows the one that matches the provider level and setting used across states, without add-ons.
• Unit. None of the 9 schedules prints a separate unit for A0398, so each amount is a flat payment for one service as the code defines it.
• Per hour. A0398 is not billed in time units in these states, so no hourly figure is shown.
• Managed-care plans. The rule the state sets for its plans on this rate. What each rule means is explained below.
• % of Medicare. No Medicare physician fee schedule amount is on file for A0398, so there is no percentage.
• Source and date. Each Source link opens the state's own document; “since” is the date the rate took effect.

Published rates for A0398 run from $1.00 in Virginia to $150.00 in Kentucky, a 150.0x gap in the same unit. Half the states pay more than the median of $12.68 and half pay less. The usual reasons for a spread like this in transportation rates:

• Many states run non-emergency medical transportation through a broker, so the state fee schedule covers only part of the benefit.
• Ambulance payment is usually a base rate per transport plus mileage, and states weight the two differently.
• Emergency and non-emergency trips, advanced and basic life support, and urban and rural trips can each carry their own rates.

Timing matters too. None of the states changed its rate for A0398 in 2026, while 6 states still pay a rate that took effect in 2022 or earlier. A state that has not updated its rate in years will drift down the ranking as others raise theirs.

What a plan pays for A0398 is negotiated privately, but the state decides how much room there is to negotiate. Here is how the rules break down across the 9 states.

In 3 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 4 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 2 states is not classified yet.

• Plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network (4 states). In-network rates can be above or below the published rate. The published rate is the benchmark both sides know, and the fallback if no contract is signed.
• Plans must pay at least the published rate (3 states). The published rate is your floor. Negotiate up from it, and if a plan pays less, the contract provision is the basis for a payment dispute.

Plan-negotiated rates are never estimated here. To see the rule and its citation for a particular state, open that state's managed-care page, for example Kentucky managed care.

A0398 is a HCPCS Level II transportation and supply code in the transportation line, billed mostly by ambulance services and non-emergency transportation providers. A codes cover ambulance and transportation services and medical and surgical supplies. Transport codes are paid per trip or per mile; supply codes per item or per box as the code states.

The base rate is billed once per trip and mileage per loaded mile under its own code. Origin and destination modifiers on the claim identify where the trip started and ended.

Before billing, confirm the rate, unit and any modifier with the state's current schedule or the plan: the amounts here are as published, not a guarantee of payment.