Hurt on a Medicaid Ride in Georgia? When You Can Sue Verida or the Transport Company

People often call it a Verida accident, because Verida booked the ride. But in Georgia, the broker that schedules a Medicaid ride and the company that drives it are usually two different businesses, and who you can hold responsible depends on which one caused the harm.

Here is how Georgia’s Medicaid transportation system is set up, when each company can be liable and why that matters for getting paid.

Broker vs. Transportation Company: Who Does What

	Broker (Verida)	Transportation company
Contracts with	Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH)	The broker
Main job	Books rides, assigns trips, and recruits and contracts with transportation companies	Operates the vans and drivers and carries passengers
Vehicle checks	Inspects vehicles before they enter service and every six months	Maintains its vehicles and equipment
Usual role in an injury claim	Responsible only in certain situations	Usually the main party responsible

Which Broker Handled Your Ride?

Since April 1, 2026, Verida (formerly Southeastrans) has been Georgia’s statewide Medicaid transportation broker for all five regions. Before that date, Modivcare (formerly LogistiCare) was the broker for the Central, East and Southwest regions. For an injury before April 2026, the trip records will show which broker and which transportation company handled the ride, even if you think of it as a Verida accident.

When the Transportation Company Is Responsible

In most Verida accident cases, the transportation company is the main party responsible when its driver causes a crash, fails to secure a wheelchair or mishandles a lift. Georgia requires carriers of passengers to use extraordinary diligence to protect them (O.C.G.A. § 46-9-132), although Georgia’s appellate courts have not clearly decided whether Medicaid transport vans fall under that rule. DCH’s rules also set specific duties for drivers, such as securing wheelchairs before moving and helping passengers to and from the main door of their destination.

A company can also be responsible for how it hired, trained and supervised its drivers. DCH requires drivers to be at least 21 with a valid license, to meet criminal history and driving record standards, and to complete training that includes passenger assistance and first aid.

When You Can Sue Verida After an Accident

Georgia’s general rule protects a company that hires an independent contractor: it is usually not liable for the contractor’s negligence (O.C.G.A. § 51-2-4). But O.C.G.A. § 51-2-5 lists exceptions, including when the company:

• keeps the right to direct or control the time and manner of the work,
• breaks a duty imposed by its own contract,
• breaks a duty imposed by statute, or
• ratifies the wrongful act.

The 2025 LogistiCare decision

In Georgia Insurers Insolvency Pool v. LogistiCare Solutions (Ga. Ct. App., Jan. 30, 2025), a wheelchair passenger said a subcontracted driver failed to secure her wheelchair and braked hard, throwing her to the floor. The trial court ruled for the broker, but the Court of Appeals reversed. It held there was a genuine factual question about whether the broker controlled the work closely enough to be responsible, pointing to evidence that the broker:

• set the provider’s office hours and required it to accept most ride requests,
• specified pickup and drop-off times and the vehicle type for each trip,
• had to approve the provider’s vehicles and drivers, and could stop using the provider or any driver at any time, and
• required detailed driver training, including wheelchair securement.

The court called the broker’s mandatory securement training and procedures “particularly significant,” since the claim was that the wheelchair was not secured. The ruling sent the question to a jury. It did not decide that the broker was liable, and every case turns on its own contract and evidence.

Why the Broker Can Matter for Getting Paid

Transportation companies are often small businesses, and their insurance may be limited. In the LogistiCare case, the provider’s auto insurer had become insolvent, which is why the broker’s role mattered so much. Georgia also generally does not allow a direct lawsuit against a medical transport van’s insurer. In Mornay v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. (Ga. Ct. App. 2015), the court held that a Medicaid transport van that, as retrofitted, could carry no more than ten people and was used only for medical trips was exempt from Georgia’s motor carrier rules, so the family could not bring a direct claim against the broker’s insurer.

For a full breakdown of every payment source, read who pays after a Medicaid van accident in Georgia.

A Complaint Is Not a Claim

After a Verida accident, you can report the problem to the DCH Member Contact Center at 1-866-211-0950, and DCH lists Verida’s quality assurance line as 678-510-4513. A complaint can help prevent the next injury, but it does not open an injury claim, get your bills paid or pause Georgia’s two-year filing deadline (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).

Steps to Protect Your Claim After a Verida Accident

1. Get medical care and keep every record.
2. Save your trip confirmation and write down the date, pickup time, driver, company and van.
3. Ask for the incident report, and have a lawyer request trip records and in-van video before they are lost.
4. Do not sign a release until you know who it covers. With several companies involved, the wording decides who is released. See general vs. limited releases in Georgia.
5. Watch the deadline: most Georgia injury lawsuits must be filed within two years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Talk With Jonathan About a Medicaid Transportation Injury

Before founding Flack Injury Law, Jonathan Flack spent two and a half years on the insurance side of commercial truck and medical transport van cases. He knows how brokers and transport companies point at each other after an injury. Read our Georgia medical transportation accident guide, learn how we handle Atlanta non-emergency medical transportation accident cases, or request a free consultation and call (678) 653-0309.