MTM Health NEMT Driver Requirements
Short answer: MTM Health's Virginia Medicaid fee-for-service provider handbook, approved August 10, 2026, says each driver must be at least 21 with two years' driving experience, have no more than two chargeable accidents or moving violations in three years, pass a criminal background check and sex offender registry check, and finish PASS, HIPAA and defensive driving training before carrying members. MTM tracks each driver's training, license, background check, drug screen and driving record review in its MTM Link system. MTM runs NEMT in several states, and rules differ by state contract. This page uses MTM's Virginia handbook because it is the most detailed current public MTM document we found.
Updated October 15, 2026 · Checked against the official sources listed at the end
Which MTM document this is
The source is MTM's Transportation Provider Handbook for Virginia Medicaid fee-for-service NEMT, approved August 10, 2026. A note on Virginia: when we checked on October 15, 2026, the Virginia DMAS provider page still named ModivCare as the fee-for-service broker. Ask DMAS which broker sends your trips before you rely on either one.
Other states where MTM is the broker, such as Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa and Wisconsin, have their own contracts. Use this page as a guide to what MTM tends to ask, then check your state's handbook and your MTM service agreement.
Driver requirements in MTM's Virginia handbook
The handbook lists these standards for drivers and attendants:
- Age and experience: at least 21 years old, with two years' driving experience and a valid license for the vehicle.
- Driving record: no more than two chargeable accidents or moving violations in the past three years, DMV points not below -2, and no license suspensions or revocations for moving violations in the last five years.
- Background: no Virginia barrier crimes, with criminal background checks from the Virginia State Police and/or national criminal databases, plus sex offender registry checks, before the driver carries anyone.
- Training before transport: PASS, HIPAA, defensive driving, first aid (as applicable) and wheelchair securement (as applicable).
- Identification: a uniform shirt with the company name or the NEMT program ID badge issued after PASS, shown at pick-up.
- Conduct: no alcohol, illegal drugs or prescription misuse on duty, no smoking or vaping, and no phone use while the vehicle is moving.
The driver roster MTM keeps
MTM says it collects a driver and attendant roster with each person's name, date of birth, Social Security number or ID, address and phone. For each driver it tracks training dates (PASS, HIPAA, defensive driving, and first aid and wheelchair securement where they apply), license expiration, the last background check, the last drug screen (if applicable) and the last driving record review.
MTM is blunt about what happens when files lapse. Out-of-date documents can mean fewer trips, a performance improvement plan, no pay for trips by drivers with expired documents, or a contract that isn't renewed. The full list of credentialing documents is in Appendix B of your MTM service agreement.
Training: what MTM gives you and what you buy
MTM's Virginia handbook says the state- and MTM-required training is at no cost to the provider. Its course list includes fraud, waste and abuse and HIPAA; passenger assistance and ADA; sensitivity and wheelchair securement; cultural competency; sexual harassment; safety awareness; mandatory reporter; and MTM Link system training. All of it must be done before a driver may carry members, and again before any credential expires.
Two courses are marked "External Training": Basic First Aid and Defensive Driving. You get those from an outside provider. If you run your own driver training program, MTM requires written approval that it meets or exceeds the NEMT training requirements.
MTM's Virginia training page adds that any provider doing wheelchair trips must have all its drivers complete the online CTAA PASS Basic course and attend in-person CTAA wheelchair securement training.
Drug testing and exclusion checks
The 2026 Virginia handbook lists the last drug screen on the roster but marks it "if applicable." It doesn't name a panel or a schedule, and it doesn't mention exclusion checks. Ask MTM what your state contract requires.
For a sense of what an MTM contract can say, a 2021 MTM transportation provider services agreement, made public as a Rhode Island House Oversight exhibit, required: a criminal background check before hire and every year after; a three-year driving record, renewed yearly; drug and alcohol testing before hire, after an accident, on suspicion, and at random at current FTA rates; and that no driver appear on the OIG or federal excluded parties lists. That is an older document, and current terms may differ.
Federal law also requires every state to make sure each NEMT driver is not on the OIG exclusion list and has a valid license, and that each provider has a process for state drug-law violations and for disclosing driving history.
How Pact helps (and what it doesn't do)
Pact Compliance keeps each driver's file in one place: license, driving record, background check, drug test and training certificates, with reminders 30, 14 and 7 days before anything runs out. Pact checks every active driver against OIG's exclusion list, plus the Medicaid exclusion lists your states publish as a file, each month and keeps a dated record of each check. It includes a random drug testing program, with lab tests at Quest for $40. Pricing is $15 per active driver a month, with a $99 minimum.
Pact is not a broker and is not affiliated with or approved by any broker. It doesn't enroll you with a broker or with Medicaid, run state or FBI fingerprint checks, check SAM.gov, or inspect vehicles. Upload those results and Pact tracks when they're due. Pact doesn't provide CTAA PASS or MTM's own training, and it doesn't upload into MTM Link for you; Pact gives you the documents to upload. Your MTM service agreement is the final word.
Common questions
How old must an MTM driver be?
At least 21 with two years' driving experience, under MTM's 2026 Virginia handbook. Other states' MTM contracts may differ.
Does MTM require PASS training?
In Virginia, yes. PASS is on the handbook's list of training required before transport. MTM's Virginia training page says providers doing wheelchair trips must have all drivers complete the online CTAA PASS Basic course.
Does MTM charge for its required training?
MTM's Virginia handbook says the state- and MTM-required training is at no cost to the provider. Basic first aid and defensive driving are external courses you arrange yourself.
Where do MTM providers upload driver documents?
MTM Link. The Virginia handbook says proof of training is kept in MTM Link, and MTM's training covers credential upload and tracking there.
Does MTM require random drug testing?
The 2026 Virginia handbook doesn't say. A 2021 MTM agreement required random testing at FTA rates. Ask MTM what your current contract says.
Sources
- MTM: Virginia Medicaid FFS NEMT Transportation Provider Handbook, approved Aug. 10, 2026 (PDF)
- MTM: Virginia Training
- Rhode Island House Oversight exhibit: MTM Transportation Provider Services Agreement, 2021 (PDF)
- Virginia DMAS: Transportation (providers)
- CMS Informational Bulletin, July 12, 2021 (PDF)