No-show letter to a rider: the missed trips, the rules that apply, and how to cancel in time
Overview
A no-show letter lists the trips a rider missed, states the program's rule for waiting and cancelling, and gives a number to call. Send it after you have phoned the rider. On Medicaid trips, leave out fees and threats of lost rides, because the broker or state decides those. The private-pay version can add the fee or deposit the rider's signed terms allow.
On this page
When to send a no-show letter, and when not to
Send a no-show letter after you have phoned the rider, and only when the miss was the rider’s. Broker rules start the contact earlier. MTM Health’s Virginia handbook (approved August 10, 2026) has a driver whose rider is not ready within the pickup window follow MTM’s no-show documentation steps and try phone or text before leaving. Your own call comes after that, and the letter confirms what the call said and gives the rider the numbers.
Check your own record first. Our guide to a rider who keeps no-showing lists the four checks: arrival time, the full wait, the right door, and a current booking. A van that arrived outside the window is not the rider’s miss, and a letter that blames the rider for it invites a complaint.
On broker and health plan trips, the program owns the rider’s relationship. Ask your broker whether it wants letters from you, and use its form if it has one. Reports of member no-shows go the way its manual says, whether that is its app, its portal, or a call. The no-show policy template sets your own wait and notice rules; this page is the letter that follows from them.
The letter for riders on a broker or health plan
This version carries no fee, no threat, and no clinic name. Fill in the brackets and print it on your letterhead, with the missed-trip table filled from the trip record.
Letter A: broker or plan rider
[Date]
[Rider name] [Mailing address the rider gave us]
Dear [Mr. or Ms. last name, or first name if that is how you address the rider],
Our driver came to pick you up and could not find you ready. Our records show these rides:
| Date | Pickup time | Our driver arrived | We waited |
|---|---|---|---|
We called [phone number] on [date and time] and [talked with you / left a message].
We want you to get the rides you need. If you no longer need a ride on those days, or the pickup place or time is wrong, please call us at [phone] so we can fix it.
If you cannot make a ride, please cancel it. [Your plan or broker] asks riders to cancel [at least number hours ahead / before the pickup time]. You can cancel by calling [number the program names for cancels] [or us at [phone] ([hours])]. Please be ready [number] minutes before your pickup time. Our driver waits [number] minutes after it.
[We report every missed ride to [broker or plan name], the same as we do for every ride.]
If you have a question or a complaint about this letter or our service, please call [name] at [phone].
Sincerely, [Name and title] [Company name]
[Language help line: “Free interpreter and aids for people with disabilities: [phone] (TTY: [number or 711]).” Repeat it in the languages your state requires; see the Section 1557 notices.]
The letter for private-pay riders
The private-pay version adds the fee or deposit, and it points to the paper the rider signed. Use it only when the rider’s signed agreement includes the term. The private-pay rider agreement has one, and a card is charged only under a separate card authorization.
Letter B: private-pay rider
Use Letter A through the missed-trip table, then replace the paragraphs that follow with this:
Under the rider agreement you signed on [date], a ride missed without [number] hours’ notice is [billed at [amount] / covered by the [amount] deposit you paid]. [We have charged [amount] to the card on file under your authorization dated [date]. / We have added [amount] to your next statement.] If your ride was missed because of a medical emergency, a hospital stay, or a change by your clinic, please call us. [We do not charge in those cases.]
A deposit is money you pay before a ride and we apply to your fare. If you ride, it comes off your fare. If you do not ride and did not cancel in time, we keep it. [If you cancel on time, we apply it to your next ride.]
To cancel a ride, call [phone] at least [number] hours before pickup. We take cancellations [hours and days]. Outside those hours, [text or leave a message at [number]].
Put the fee in the letter only if it matches your dated rate sheet and cancellation policy. A fee the rider was never told about is the one that becomes a dispute. Whether a Medicaid rider can ever be charged varies by state, and our guide to billing for no-shows lists where it does. Texas Medicaid’s provider handbook (September 2026) says plainly that providers cannot bill Medicaid or its clients for missed appointments.
A copy line
Add this only when the program or the rider’s agreement allows it:
cc: [broker case manager, plan care coordinator, or facility contact], with the rider’s agreement.
What a state’s no-show notice says, and why yours should say less
A letter from a program that can suspend rides carries the rider’s appeal rights. A ride company’s letter cannot, so it leaves out the escalation words. North Carolina’s county Medicaid transportation forms show the difference. The no-show notice (DHB-5125, revised March 2022) states the missed date, tells the rider to be ready at least 15 minutes before pickup, says where to cancel, explains that a missed trip counts as a no-show unless the rider shows good cause, and warns that three no-shows within three months can mean a 30-day suspension. A page on the back says the rider may ask for a hearing within 60 days, or 90 with a good reason. The follow-up forms, a final notice (DHB-5125A) and a suspension notice (DHB-5125B), add the dates, the earlier notices, and any critical service the rider may still book.
Those are the county’s words because the county decides. Your letter should leave out:
- Escalation language. “Final notice,” “suspension,” “loss of rides,” and “we will report you.” Report missed trips as the manual requires, without describing it as a penalty.
- Hearing or appeal rights. You hold none to give. The program’s own notice carries them.
- A demand for proof of good cause. Offer a call instead: “If there was a reason, tell us.”
- Any charge on a Medicaid rider. See the billing guide above.
- The clinic’s name or the reason for the visit. Name the date and pickup time. A dialysis unit or a cancer center says a great deal to anyone who reads the envelope or the page.
Putting the right cancel rule in the letter
The cancel line must match the program, because the numbers differ. Three examples from published rules:
- People for People, Washington (July 2026). Its passenger rules ask for 2 hours’ notice to cancel through People for People, and say riders who need to cancel outside office hours contact the provider directly. Drivers wait no more than 5 minutes. Your phone number belongs in the letter for exactly that reason.
- MTM Health, Virginia fee-for-service (approved July 2026). The member handbook asks riders to be ready at least 15 minutes before pickup and to cancel at least 24 hours ahead when possible, by phone or the MTM Link Member app.
- North Carolina county Medicaid transportation. The notice tells the rider to be ready at least 15 minutes before pickup and to cancel before the pickup time through the county coordinator, or the provider if the rider was told to call the provider.
Read the same page in your own broker’s manual or member handbook, and copy its numbers. A letter that says “24 hours” when your broker says “2 hours” teaches riders the wrong rule. For private-pay riders the numbers come from your own policy, and the welcome letter should already have told the rider what they are.
Sending it: address, language, copies, and the record
Mail it to the address the rider gave you, in an envelope that shows your company name and return address and nothing about rides. If a rider asked you to reach them at another address or by another means, a covered provider must go along with a reasonable request, and may ask for it in writing but not for a reason (45 CFR 164.522(b)).
A letter that asks a rider to call back about their rides is the kind of communication 45 CFR 92.11(c)(5) lists, so it carries the language help notice, and goes out in the rider’s language when you have it on file. If a rider’s disability or memory loss lies behind the misses, a call to the caregiver and a changed booking will help more than a letter, and a request to change a rule goes through your ADA policy.
Write down the date sent, how it went, who signed it, and where the copy is, and file it with the trips it refers to. Keep it as long as you keep those trip records; the record retention schedule lists the usual periods.
Getting the dates from HealthRide
HealthRide saves each no-show on the trip with the driver’s recorded wait, so the arrival and wait times for the table come from the trip record. Export the trip log as a CSV or PDF from reports and filter to one rider’s missed legs. Reminder texts go out before each ride, which prevents some of the letters in the first place.
Frequently asked questions
- Should a ride company send a no-show letter to a Medicaid rider at all?
- Often it is optional. Broker manuals tell drivers how to document a no-show and who to tell. MTM Health's Virginia handbook, for example, has the driver follow MTM's no-show procedure and try phone or text before leaving. Ask your broker whether it wants letters from you. If you send one, keep it a courtesy note with dates and cancel steps.
- Can the letter charge a Medicaid rider a fee?
- Not in most programs. Texas Medicaid says providers cannot bill clients for missed appointments, and our guide to billing for no-shows lists where states differ. Fees belong in the private-pay version, and only where the rider signed terms that include them.
- What should the letter say about losing rides?
- Nothing that promises it. On Medicaid trips the broker, plan, or state decides whether a rider is restricted, and it sends its own notice with appeal rights. A ride company has no power to suspend a rider, so words like final notice or suspension in your letter would claim an authority you do not have.
- What if the rider says our driver never came?
- Check your own records before the letter goes out: the arrival time, how long the driver waited, the address, and the entrance. MTM Health's Virginia standard counts a van as on time when it arrives within 15 minutes either side of the scheduled pickup. A van that came outside that window or to the wrong door means the miss is yours.
- Should the clinic or facility get a copy?
- Only with the rider's agreement, or when the facility is the one that booked and pays for the ride. Share trip facts, meaning dates, times, and the wait, and keep the reason for the visit out of it. Our family-calls guide explains who may be told what.
- Does the letter need to be translated?
- If the rider's primary language is not English and you have it on file, send the letter in that language. A letter that asks the rider to respond about their rides is the kind of communication 45 CFR 92.11(c)(5) says must carry the notice of free language help, so add the notice line at the bottom.
- How long do we keep a copy?
- Keep it with the trip record it refers to, for as long as you keep that record. Payers and states set the periods, and some contracts ask for more than the law does. Our record retention schedule lists the usual ones, and your broker contract may add to them.
