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Committee forwards up-to-$8 million AmeriCab nonemergency transportation contract to full council
Summary
The Cuyahoga County Health, Human Services and Aging Committee voted to forward Resolution 20250147, an award to AmeriCab for nonemergency Medicaid transportation through Feb. 28, 2027, after staff described program scope, funding and vendor capacity.
Cuyahoga County’s Health, Human Services and Aging Committee voted April 16 to send Resolution 20250147 — an award to AmeriCab Transportation Incorporated not to exceed $8,000,000 — to the full council under second-reading suspension.
Madam Chair convened the meeting and the clerk read the resolution and requisition 15499 into the record; David Merriman of the county’s Division of Contract Administration and Performance introduced the item and asked Marcos Cortez of Health and Human Services to describe the nonemergency transportation (NET) program. Cortez said the services provide Medicaid-eligible residents rides to routine medical appointments, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that the county issued an RFP in December 2024 that produced four bids. "AmeriCab was the highest scoring," Cortez said.
Cortez said the contract is structured around a per-ride rate that is intended to cover driver salaries, fuel, vehicle maintenance and other program costs. He described the $8,000,000 figure as an "up to" amount for the multiyear contract and said annual spending is typically between $2 million and $3 million. A committee member noted the $8 million total against a comment about roughly 2,000 rides and calculated that would imply about $4,000 per ride; Cortez and Merriman explained the county bills and reimburses per ride and that the per-ride rate encompasses program expenses.
Patrick Keenan, former general manager and currently affiliated with AmeriCab, told the committee the vendor can provide city-level breakdowns of trip origins and said the company once peaked at 15,000 trips and was operating at about 11,000 trips per month at the time of the meeting. Committee members asked staff to provide a geographic breakdown of participants and to confirm eligibility rules; Cortez and Merriman said they would check fiscal records and follow up with the committee and Clerk Levine.
The clerk recorded a motion to move Resolution R2025-0147 to the full council under second-reading suspension; Councilman Sweeney moved the motion and Councilman Hauser seconded it. The committee approved the motion by voice vote. The item will next appear before the full Cuyahoga County Council.
The committee also approved the April 2 minutes earlier in the meeting.
