Getting there shouldn’t be the hard part.
Door‑through‑door rides to medical appointments across Murrieta, Temecula, Menifee and the Temecula Valley. We walk you in. We wait. We bring you home.
A family member or caregiver always rides free.
What a ride costs
One‑way, from Murrieta. No hidden fees.
Who we drive
Most of our riders are in one of three situations.
Most common
A regular appointment, and no good way to get there
Dialysis three mornings a week. Infusion. Wound care. Physical therapy. The kind of appointment you can’t reschedule and can’t drive yourself to.
Short notice
Being discharged, with nobody available
The hospital says you’re ready to go home at 4pm on a Tuesday. Your son is at work in San Diego. We take same‑day discharge calls with two hours’ notice.
Out of area
A specialist an hour away
Loma Linda. UC San Diego. City of Hope. We do the long ones at a flat rate, wait through the appointment, and bring you back the same day.
Straight answers
Does Medi‑Cal pay for this?
Usually yes — and most people who qualify don’t know it.
Medi‑Cal covers rides to covered appointments, and your health plan is the one that arranges them. You do not need a doctor’s note for a standard ride, and it costs you nothing.
We’ll show you exactly who to call, what to say, and how far ahead to book — even if you never ride with us.
How to get your covered rideCall your plan first
Riverside County Medi‑Cal members
Book at least 5 days ahead. You do not need a doctor’s note for a standard ride.
Where we go
Drive time from our Murrieta base.
We name the places we actually go, because “the Inland Empire” doesn’t tell you whether we’ll come get you.
For facilities
Your patient is ready to go home. The ride isn’t.
Discharge planners, dialysis schedulers, SNF and assisted living case managers: we take standing orders, we confirm within one business day, and we send you an on‑time report every month.
Set up a facility accountTwo‑week trial on your dialysis runs
Give us one chair’s worth of Monday–Wednesday–Friday pickups for two weeks. If we’re late once, that trip is free. No contract, no minimum.
Common questions
Before you call.
Do you take wheelchairs?
Not yet. Right now we carry riders who can walk to the van with or without a cane or walker, and we help you every step. If you use a wheelchair and can’t transfer to a seat, we’re not the right service — call us anyway and we’ll point you to someone who is.
How far ahead do I need to book?
Two business days is comfortable. We hold same‑day slots for hospital discharges and for riders we already know. Standing weekly rides get locked in and stop needing to be booked at all.
Can my daughter come with me?
Yes, and there’s no charge. One companion, caregiver, or family member always rides free. The van seats several people comfortably, so a second is usually fine too — just tell us when you book.
Let’s get the next appointment covered.
Call and a person answers, 6am to 7pm, seven days a week.
Services
Rides for people who can walk to the van.
We are a non‑medical transportation service. That means seated, ambulatory rides — with a cane, a walker, an oxygen bottle, or an arm to hold. No stretchers, no wheelchair lift, no medical care on board.
Anchor service
Dialysis, three times a week
The same driver, the same pickup window, Monday–Wednesday–Friday or Tuesday–Thursday–Saturday. We know a 5:00am first chair means leaving your driveway at 4:25, and we know what a missed treatment costs you.
Same day
Hospital & surgery center discharge
Two hours’ notice. We come to the discharge door, not the parking lot. We take you inside your house, put the walker where you can reach it, and don’t leave until you’re seated.
Wait & return
Doctor visits, labs, imaging, infusion
We drop you at the door, park, and wait. When the appointment runs 40 minutes long — and it will — we’re still there. First 20 minutes of waiting is free.
Flat rate
Loma Linda, San Diego, Orange County, LA
Long specialist trips at a published flat rate, not a running meter. Loma Linda VA and Loma Linda University Medical Center are our most frequent runs.
Multi‑stop
Appointment, then the pharmacy, then home
Booked by the hour. Cardiologist at 10, pick up the prescription, stop at the grocery store, home by 1. Two‑hour minimum.
Facilities
Group runs from senior communities
The van seats several riders. Assisted living and adult day programs can move four or five residents to the same clinic on one trip, billed per rider instead of per van.
What “door‑through‑door” actually means
Curb‑to‑curb means the driver stays behind the wheel. Door‑to‑door means they walk you to the entrance. We do door‑through‑door, which means:
- We knock, we don’t honk.
- We carry the bag and steady the arm on the walkway.
- We come inside the building and hand you off at the check‑in desk.
- We wait where you can see us, and we come back in to get you.
- At home, we go in with you and don’t leave until you’re settled.
What we can’t do
Being clear about this saves everybody a phone call.
- Wheelchairs and stretchers. Our van has passenger seats, no ramp and no lift. If you can’t transfer into a seat, you need a wheelchair van.
- Medical care. No oxygen administration, no monitoring, no lifting you off the ground. We are drivers, not medics.
- Emergencies. If something is wrong right now, call 911.
Not sure if we’re the right fit? Call and ask.
Private pay rates
Our prices are on this page.
Almost nobody in this business publishes rates. We think that’s a bad way to treat someone who is already worried about money. Estimate your trip below, then call to book.
Fare estimator
What will my trip cost?
Your estimate
Murrieta → Murrieta
Estimate only. We confirm the exact price on the phone before we book.
Book this tripThe full rate card
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Base fare, one way Includes the first 5 miles | $45 |
| Each mile after the first 5 | $3.25 |
| Minimum one‑way fare | $65 |
| Minimum in‑town round trip | $130 |
| Waiting — first 20 minutes | free |
| Waiting after that, per 15 min | $25 |
| By the hour, multi‑stop Two‑hour minimum | $95/hr |
| Companion or caregiver | free |
| Destination | Price |
|---|---|
| Loma Linda — VA Medical Center or LLUMC | $215 |
| Riverside & Corona | $165 |
| Ontario Airport (ONT) | $250 |
| San Diego — UCSD, Scripps, VA La Jolla | $275 |
| San Diego Airport (SAN) | $310 |
| Orange County — UCI, Hoag | $325 |
| Los Angeles — Cedars, City of Hope, UCLA | $395 |
| LAX | $425 |
| Plan | Per month |
|---|---|
| 3× a week, center within 10 miles About 13 round trips — roughly $63 each | $825 |
| 3× a week, center within 20 miles Roughly $77 per round trip | $995 |
| 2× a week, within 10 miles | $580 |
| Situation | Adjustment |
|---|---|
| Before 7am or after 6pm | +$30 |
| Saturday or Sunday | +25% |
| New Year’s, Thanksgiving, Christmas | +50% |
| Booked under 12 hours ahead | +$25 |
| Cancelled under 2 hours ahead | 50% |
| No‑show at pickup | minimum fare |
How you pay
Card, debit, or check at the end of the ride. Monthly plans and facility accounts are invoiced on the 1st, due in 15 days. We don’t take a deposit and we don’t charge a booking fee.
Before you pay us
There may be a cheaper way, and we’ll tell you about it.
We’d rather you get where you’re going than get billed by us. If money is tight, start here:
- Your Medi‑Cal plan covers rides to covered appointments at no cost to you. Here’s how to arrange one.
- Care‑A‑Van Transit — (951) 791‑3572. Door‑to‑door in Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Hemet and San Jacinto. $3 suggested donation, and they don’t turn anyone away.
- RTA Dial‑A‑Ride — (800) 795‑7887. $3.50 a boarding for seniors and riders with disabilities.
- Veterans — DAV vans run to the Loma Linda VA for free. (909) 894‑7857.
- Riverside County Office on Aging HelpLink — (877) 932‑4100.
Where we earn our fee is on the things those programs can’t do: short notice, evenings and weekends, waiting through your appointment, and driving outside the county.
Service area
Southwest Riverside County, and the specialists beyond it.
Based in Murrieta. Our regular runs are inside the box formed by Wildomar, Temecula, Menifee and Lake Elsinore. We go further — Hemet, Loma Linda, San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles — at a flat rate.
Cities we serve, and what’s in them
Drive time is from our Murrieta base with no traffic. Add 15–40% on the I‑15 and I‑215 at rush hour — we build that into your pickup time so you’re not late.
Gated communities
Canyon Lake, The Colony, Spencer’s Crossing, Audie Murphy Ranch and the rest — give us the gate code or add us to your guest list when you book, and we’ll be at your door on time instead of arguing at a call box.
Assisted living & memory care
We pick up from Ivy Park, WellQuest, Brookdale, Spencer’s Crossing Senior Living and the small board‑and‑cares across Murrieta and Temecula. Front desk staff can book on a resident’s behalf.
Outside this list?
Ask. If it’s a medical appointment and we can get you there and back safely in a day, we’ll quote it. (951) 555‑0147
Medi‑Cal & insurance
Medi‑Cal covers rides to your appointments. Here’s how to get one.
This page is here whether or not you ever ride with us. Most people who qualify for a free ride don’t know it, and the ones who do know usually call the wrong number.
Step one: call your health plan, not a transportation company
In Riverside County, your Medi‑Cal plan — or the company it hires — arranges the ride and assigns the driver. You can’t book a covered Medi‑Cal ride by calling a van company directly.
| If your plan is | Call | Book at least |
|---|---|---|
| IEHP Non‑medical rides are handled by Call the Car | (800) 440‑4347 Call the Car: (855) 673‑3195 | 5 calendar days ahead |
| Molina Healthcare Rides are handled by American Logistics | (844) 292‑2688 24 hours a day | 3 business days ahead |
| Kaiser Permanente Medi‑Cal | (844) 299‑6230 | 5 calendar days ahead |
Not sure which plan you have? It’s printed on your Medi‑Cal card. If you don’t have the card, call Riverside County Medi‑Cal or check your plan’s app.
Two different benefits, and the difference matters
People get turned down because they asked for the wrong one.
NMT
Non‑Medical Transportation
A seat in a car, van, taxi, or rideshare to a covered appointment. This is what most people need. No doctor’s note required — you just have to say why you can’t get there another way.
NEMT
Non‑Emergency Medical Transportation
A wheelchair van, gurney van, or ambulance, for people whose condition means an ordinary car won’t work. This one does need a doctor’s form — a Physician Certification Statement — and can be approved for up to 12 months at a time.
You qualify for a non‑medical ride if any of these is true
- You don’t have a valid driver’s license.
- There’s no working vehicle in your household.
- You can’t travel to the appointment, or wait there, by yourself.
- You have a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that keeps you from getting there.
You tell the plan this yourself. It’s called an attestation. Nobody has to sign anything for you.
If your ride doesn’t show up
This is the rule almost nobody tells you: if the driver your plan sent is more than 15 minutes late, your plan has to arrange another ride so you don’t miss the appointment — or let you arrange your own and pay you back.
Call the plan’s member services line while you’re still standing there waiting, and write down the time you called.
Medicare
Original Medicare generally does not pay for routine rides to appointments. Some Medicare Advantage plans include a limited number of trips a year as an extra benefit — check your plan’s Evidence of Coverage or call the number on your card.
Veterans
DAV volunteer vans run to the Loma Linda VA from across Riverside and San Bernardino counties at no cost, for riders who can walk on board. (909) 894‑7857. VA Beneficiary Travel may also reimburse your mileage.
Long‑term care insurance
Some policies reimburse transportation as a covered service. We give you an itemized receipt with dates, addresses, mileage and purpose on every trip, which is what those claims need.
Still stuck after calling your plan?
Call us anyway. We’ll help you figure out who to talk to, free, whether or not you end up riding with us.
For facilities & case managers
Your patient is ready to go home. The ride isn’t.
A bed you can’t turn over. A dialysis chair sitting empty at 5:40am. A resident who missed her cardiology appointment for the second time. We take those trips off your desk.
Who we work with
Hospital discharge planners
Same‑day pickup with two hours’ notice, seven days a week.
Dialysis schedulers
Standing MWF and TThS orders. We understand a chair time is not a suggestion.
SNF & post‑acute case managers
Outpatient appointments, specialist consults, and transfers back home.
Assisted living & memory care
Single residents or group runs to the same clinic, billed per resident.
Adult day programs
Recurring daily routes. Multiple participants per trip.
Home care agencies
Fill the gap when a caregiver can’t drive or the client’s car is gone.
Infusion & oncology
Wait‑and‑return for treatments that run long and unpredictably.
Social workers & care coordinators
One‑off trips for clients who’ve run out of other options.
What an account gets you
- A direct scheduler line that isn’t the consumer number. Answered in under 60 seconds, 6am–7pm.
- Standing orders confirmed within one business day and then left alone — no re‑booking every week.
- Same‑day discharge accepted with two hours’ notice.
- One monthly invoice instead of collecting cards from patients. Net 15.
- A monthly on‑time report — every trip, scheduled time, actual arrival, and the exceptions with reasons.
- A named driver your residents see again and again, not a rotating roster of strangers.
- Group runs priced per rider, so four residents to the same clinic costs a fraction of four separate trips.
Try us for two weeks
Give us one chair’s worth of Monday–Wednesday–Friday dialysis pickups for two weeks. If we’re late once, that trip is free. No contract, no minimum, no cancellation notice.
Why transportation lands on your desk in the first place
Roughly one in five adults without a car or transit access skipped needed medical care in the past year. Among in‑center dialysis patients, about one in ten misses a treatment every month. Those turn into your readmissions, your no‑shows, and your delayed discharges.
Before you send us a patient
The things a case manager is supposed to verify, in one place.
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Entity | CaringSoul LLC — California Secretary of State entity B20260245002 |
| Service level | Ambulatory only. No wheelchair lift, no gurney, no medical care on board. |
| Vehicle | Mercedes‑Benz Sprinter passenger van, commercially registered |
| Commercial auto liability | Certificate on request |
| General liability & workers’ comp | Certificate on request |
| Driver screening | DMV record pulled and monitored · criminal background check · DOT physical · drug and alcohol testing |
| Driver training | First Aid & CPR · HIPAA · defensive driving · passenger assistance |
| Exclusion screening | Owners and drivers checked monthly against the OIG LEIE, SAM, and the DHCS Suspended & Ineligible list |
| Trip documentation | Driver name, date, scheduled and actual times, pickup and drop‑off addresses, and rider name on every trip. Records retained 10 years. |
Ask for the one‑page capability sheet and we’ll email it the same day, with current certificates attached.
Set up a facility account
No patient health information, please — initials or a room number are plenty. We’ll call you back the same business day.
Got it — we’ll call you back today.
If you need something before then, the scheduler line is (951) 555‑0148, 6am to 7pm.
About
A new company, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise.
CaringSoul LLC started in 2026 with one van, one owner behind the wheel, and a service area small enough to actually show up on time in.
Why this exists
What we decided from the start: publish the prices, answer the phone ourselves, tell people about the free options before we quote them, and never claim a credential we don’t have yet.
What we’ve done, and what we haven’t
- Done: California LLC formed — entity B20260245002. Commercial vehicle registration. Commercial auto, general liability and workers’ compensation coverage. Driver background check, DMV record monitoring, DOT physical, drug and alcohol testing, First Aid and CPR, HIPAA training.
- Not yet: A wheelchair‑accessible vehicle. Contracts with health plans or transportation brokers. A second van.
How we handle the van
The vehicle
A Mercedes‑Benz Sprinter passenger van, commercially registered and commercially insured. High roof, so you stand up to get in instead of folding yourself into a sedan. Seats several riders, which is why your companion is free.
The driver
DMV record pulled and monitored continuously. Criminal background check. DOT medical exam. Drug and alcohol testing. First Aid and CPR certified. HIPAA trained. Defensive driving and passenger assistance training.
Your privacy
We keep what we need to run the trip and prove it happened: your name, addresses, times, and who rode. We don’t ask about your diagnosis, we don’t discuss riders, and we don’t use anyone’s name in a review reply or an advertisement.
Book a first ride and judge us on it.
Questions
Everything people ask on the first call.
Do you take wheelchairs?
Not yet. Our van has passenger seats, no ramp and no lift. We carry riders who can walk to the van — with a cane, a walker, an oxygen bottle, or an arm to lean on — and we help you the whole way. If you can’t transfer out of a wheelchair into a seat, you need a wheelchair van. Call us and we’ll give you names.
Does Medi‑Cal pay for my ride?
Medi‑Cal covers rides to covered appointments, and your health plan arranges them — you call the plan, not a van company. There is no cost to you and you don’t need a doctor’s note for a standard ride.
Here’s exactly who to call, and how far ahead to book. We put that page up whether or not you ever ride with us.
How much does it cost?
A local one‑way ride starts at $65. Menifee is about $78, Hemet about $110, and Loma Linda is a $215 flat rate. The full rate card and a fare estimator are on the rates page — no phone call needed to find out.
How far ahead do I need to book?
Two business days is comfortable and gets you the pickup time you want. We hold same‑day slots for hospital discharges and for riders we already know. Booking less than 12 hours out adds $25 when we can fit you in. Standing weekly rides get locked into the schedule and don’t need booking at all.
Will the driver wait during my appointment?
Yes, if you book wait‑and‑return. The first 20 minutes of waiting are free, then it’s $25 per 15 minutes. For anything over about two hours it’s usually cheaper to book a round trip and call us when you’re done.
Can my daughter or my aide come along?
Yes, free. One companion always rides at no charge, and the van has room for a second most days — just tell us when you book.
What if I need help getting out of the house?
That’s the service. We knock, we help with the door and the steps, we carry the bag, we take your arm on the walkway. Inside the building we go with you to the check‑in desk. What we can’t do is lift you, get you out of bed, or pick you up off the floor — that needs two trained people and equipment we don’t carry.
Do you drive to Loma Linda, San Diego, or Los Angeles?
Yes, at a flat rate: $215 to Loma Linda, $275 to San Diego, $325 to Orange County, $395 to Los Angeles, one way. Most people book those as a round trip with the driver waiting through the appointment.
How do I pay?
Card, debit, or check at the end of the ride. No deposit and no booking fee. Monthly dialysis plans and facility accounts are invoiced on the 1st and due in 15 days.
What if I need to cancel?
Cancel more than two hours ahead and there’s no charge. Under two hours it’s half the fare, and a no‑show at the pickup is the minimum fare. If the hospital or clinic cancels on you, so do we — no charge.
What if you’re late?
Call us. If we make you late to an appointment through our own fault, the trip is free. If you’re riding on a Medi‑Cal‑arranged trip with a different company and they’re more than 15 minutes late, your health plan has to send another ride or pay you back for one — call your plan while you’re still waiting.
Are you insured?
Yes — commercial auto liability, general liability, and workers’ compensation. We’ll email a certificate of insurance to any facility, case manager, or family that asks. We’d rather you check than take our word for it.
Can you take me somewhere that isn’t medical?
Yes. The grocery store, the bank, a haircut, your grandson’s graduation. Booked by the hour at $95 with a two‑hour minimum, or at the regular per‑trip rate for a straight run.
Question we didn’t answer?
Book a ride
Tell us about the trip and we’ll call you back.
This form is a request, not a confirmed booking — a real person calls you back within 30 minutes between 6am and 7pm to confirm the time and the price. In a hurry? Call (951) 555‑0147 instead.
Request received.
Nothing is booked and nothing is charged until we’ve spoken and you’ve said yes to the price.
Need it sooner? Call (951) 555‑0147.