# Hancock County NET RFP: How Ride Bids Are Scored and When Contracts Renew (2027)

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/hancock-county/ · Updated 2026-10-02

Hancock County Job and Family Services in Findlay buys Medicaid NET rides through a short RFP scored out of 40 points, and only proposals scoring 30 or more can win. Its 2025 RFP, released September 19, 2025, set contracts for calendar 2026 with two possible 12-month renewals. Six providers hold contracts approved in December 2025 and January 2026, with combined caps near $684,100, renewable through 2028.

- Hancock scores NET proposals out of 40 points in four equal parts, and a proposal needs 30 to be selected.
- Half the score is price: whether your unit rate is reasonable and whether your cost narrative supports it.
- Six providers share about $684,100 in contract caps, and 59 Green LTD won its first Hancock contract in this round.
- With both renewals, the 2026 contracts could run to December 31, 2028, so a full new RFP may not come until fall 2028.
- Wait time pays only outside the county, in 15-minute units, and no-shows never pay.

## Hancock County NEMT at a glance

| Fact | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Who runs NET | Hancock County Job and Family Services (HCJFS), 7814 County Road 140, Findlay, 419-422-0182, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| What the RFP covers | NET and pregnancy related trips anywhere in Ohio, plus family members or medical attendants who must ride along |
| Contract term | January 1 to December 31, 2026, with two possible 12-month renewals that could carry it to December 31, 2028 |
| Scoring | 40 points: organization 10, experience 10, unit rate 10, cost narrative 10. Proposals under 30 are not selected. |
| 2026 providers | USA Cab, HHWP CAC (HATS), T & H Lift, City Mission, 59 Green LTD, and K&P Medical Transport |
| Contract caps | $27,054.68 to $232,400 each, about $684,100 combined, approved December 16, 2025 and January 8, 2026 |
| Wait time | Billable only on trips outside Hancock County, in 15-minute increments |
| No-shows | Never paid, because the program runs on federal funds |
| Protests | By 3 p.m. on the tenth business day after the letter of intent to award |

## Who arranges rides here

- [Hancock County Job & Family Services (HCJFS)](https://www.co.hancock.oh.us/169/Job-Family-Services): Runs NET for Medicaid riders and issues the NET RFP. (419) 422-0182
- [HCJFS NET Program Administrator](https://www.co.hancock.oh.us/DocumentCenter/View/1526/NET-RFP-2025): Takes expressions of interest and written questions while an RFP is open. (419) 429-8037
- [Hancock Area Transportation Services (HATS)](https://www.hhwpcac.org/programs/hats/): County public transit, run by HHWP CAC, that carries NET riders under a county contract. (419) 423-7261
- [Hancock County Board of Commissioners](https://www.co.hancock.oh.us/303/Commissioners): Approves each NET agreement and amendment at its public meetings. (419) 424-7044

Hancock County Job and Family Services (HCJFS) in Findlay does not hand its Medicaid rides to a broker. It picks its ride companies through its own request for proposals (RFP), a 15-page document with a 40-point score, then signs a separate agreement with each company it selects. That short format makes it a good first county bid to study. Here is what the 2025 RFP asked for, how each point is earned, who won, and when the work opens again.

## How NET works in Hancock County

Ohio's county JFS offices run non-emergency transportation (NET) under rule 5160-15-10 for Medicaid rides that a health plan does not have to give, and every private ride company on a county contract must pass the vendor checks in rule 5160-15-14. The [Ohio guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/ohio/) covers the plans and their brokers, and [county NET contracts in Ohio](https://nemtguide.com/guides/ohio-county-net-contracts/) shows how other counties buy rides.

HCJFS is a combined agency that runs children services, child support, public assistance, and workforce development from 7814 County Road 140. Its RFP covers Medicaid riders going to physicians, dentists, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and mental health providers, plus pregnancy related services trips. A family member or medical attendant may ride along when the rider needs one, such as a child or a rider with a severe disability.

Riders can request a trip online with the county's NET Trip Request Form, and the form has them pick the company. As of October 2026 its list is K&P, Green Cab, T&H Lift, USA Cab, and HATS. Because riders choose, reliable service is how a company earns repeat trips there.

Hancock County's coordinated transportation plan for 2021 to 2025, last approved in June 2025 by the Hancock County Transportation Advisory Committee, adds two local details. HCJFS also drives some NET riders in agency-owned vehicles and repays clients, family, or friends who drive them. And HATS, run by the HHWP Community Action Commission, is the only public transit provider in the county, and HATS says its fleet is completely wheelchair accessible. The plan says the two local cab companies on the NET roster, USA Cab and T-H Lift, have no wheelchair accessible vehicles.

## Who holds Hancock's 2026 NET agreements

The commissioners approved five 2026 NET agreements on December 16, 2025 (Resolutions 932-25 to 936-25) and a NET contract with T & H Lift on January 8, 2026 (Resolution 16-26). Each has its own cap:

| Provider | What it is | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| USA Cab LLC | Local cab company | $232,400 |
| HHWP CAC | Runs HATS, the county's public transit | $166,625 |
| T & H Lift, LLC | Local cab company | About $141,561.24 |
| City Mission | Nonprofit for the needy and homeless that drives its own clients | $66,458.88 |
| 59 Green LTD | New NET contractor for 2026 | $50,000 |
| K&P Medical Transport LLC | Medical transport company with trips from 13 counties | $27,054.68 |

Together the caps come to about $684,100. A cap is a limit, not a promise of trips. Caps also move during the year: on December 9, 2025 the board added $20,000 to the HHWP CAC agreement for 2025, bringing it to $320,000, and later that month it added 2025 money to the City Mission and USA Cab agreements. On July 9, 2026 it approved a first amendment to the USA Cab contract (Resolution 443-26).

The most useful line in the table is 59 Green LTD. The commissioners' minutes call 2026 its first year contracting with the county, so the 2026 round did add a new company.

## The 2025 RFP calendar

The RFP set this timetable, and HCJFS kept the right to revise it with reasonable notice:

1. **September 19, 2025:** RFP released.
2. **October 24, 2025, 4 p.m.:** written questions due, and HCJFS answers go to all registered proposers.
3. **October 31, 2025, 4 p.m.:** proposals due.
4. **November 14, 2025:** letter of intent to award, sent to every proposer.
5. **December 18, 2025:** target date to finish the contracts.
6. **January 1, 2026:** service starts. Work done before that date is not paid.

To register, you send the program administrator a simple expression of interest by phone, fax, mail, or email. Registering is not required, but an unregistered proposer may miss the answers to questions and any changes to the RFP, so register the day it comes out.

## What the proposal must contain

The 2025 RFP asked for three items, and a proposal missing any of them does not go to the review committee:

- **Cover sheet (Attachment A).** Your legal name, whether you are nonprofit or for-profit, your FEIN, your principal officers, and your years in operation. It also asks three yes-or-no questions: have you ever repaid a government for a questioned or disallowed cost, could you repay one, and can you run the program without an advance.
- **Proposal.** A transmittal letter naming one contact for questions and one with authority to sign, and your organizational background with a list of similar projects from the past five years. The proposal itself must contain no cost information.
- **Budget (Attachment B).** A 2026 budget by line: staff positions, fringes, communications, utilities, travel, equipment, insurance, staff management, shared costs with the method you used to split them, and fiscal management. A narrative explains each cost, breaks the request down by unit rate and the number of units you expect to provide, and gives each funding source's share of the total.

Send five copies of the proposal and five copies of the cost proposal, in a sealed envelope or by email, by 4 p.m. on the due date. Faxes are refused. Everything you send is treated as public unless you mark a part as proprietary and explain in writing why, and HCJFS makes the final call.

## How the 40 points are scored

A committee of three to five people, with at least one who knows NET and one with no tie to the program, scores each proposal by consensus:

1. **Organization description, 10 points.** How your company fits what the RFP asks. Name the trip types, the hours, and the attendant trips you can cover.
2. **Qualifications and experience, 10 points.** Past performance where you have it, and the similar projects you listed.
3. **Budget, 10 points.** Whether your unit rate is reasonable.
4. **Narrative of costs, 10 points.** Whether your costs are reasonable for the service and tied to it.

The cutoff is 30 points, so you must earn three quarters of the score to be selected at all. Half the points ride on price, which means the budget and its narrative carry as much weight as your whole company description and experience together. If you are new, the cost half is where you can match an established company. Use the [NEMT rate sheet template](https://nemtguide.com/templates/nemt-rate-sheet/) to set out your unit rate.

## What the contract pays and what it does not

HCJFS pays for the transportation actually given, submitted monthly, under a payment schedule it negotiates with each company after selection. Three rules shape your rate:

- **Trips anywhere in Ohio.** Plan for long runs to specialists in other counties.
- **Wait time only outside the county.** While a rider is in treatment outside Hancock County, you may bill the wait in 15-minute increments. Inside the county, waiting is unpaid. See [NEMT wait time billing](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-wait-time-billing/).
- **No pay for no-shows.** The RFP ties this to the program's federal funding.

The RFP also lets you hold other state or county contracts as long as Hancock service does not suffer. Every term applies to any subgrantee you use, and you must certify compliance with child support withholding orders under section 3113.217 of the Revised Code. For attendant trips, see [escorts and caregivers on NEMT rides](https://nemtguide.com/guides/escorts-and-caregivers/).

## The quiet period and protests

From the day the RFP is issued until an agreement is awarded, the RFP bars any talk about it with HCJFS staff. The exceptions are written questions, interviews HCJFS asks for, and written revisions it sends out.

A protest goes in writing to the HCJFS Director at P.O. Box 270, Findlay, OH 45839, or by fax to 419-424-7485, with your grounds and the relief you want:

- A complaint about the RFP itself is due by 4 p.m. on the proposal due date.
- A complaint about an award is due by 3 p.m. on the tenth business day after the letter of intent.

A timely protest holds the award until it is decided, unless the director finds a delay would severely harm HCJFS. The director decides after taking the opinion of the Hancock County Prosecutor's Office.

## When the work opens again

The 2026 contracts run January 1 to December 31, 2026, and HCJFS may renew them twice, for 12 months each, based on the year's performance, compliance, and funding. With both renewals the contracts end December 31, 2028. The 2026 agreements were approved in December 2025 and January 2026, so watch the commissioners' agendas each December for renewals, and expect the next full RFP in the fall before the first year that is not renewed.

To be ready:

1. **Get on the mailing list now.** Tell the program administrator at 419-429-8037 you want notice of the next NET RFP.
2. **Read the minutes.** The board's agendas and minutes, posted for its regular Tuesday and Thursday meetings, show every NET agreement and amendment.
3. **Build your budget early.** Attachment B asks for staff, fringe, and overhead lines, so set up your books to show them. Start from your [cost per trip](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-cost-per-trip/).
4. **Fill the gaps.** The coordinated plan names limited accessible service on weekends and early and late in the day, and a lack of affordable trips between counties, as county gaps.
5. **Carry plan trips meanwhile.** Health plan members' wheelchair van and long trips go through their plans, such as [CareSource](https://nemtguide.com/health-plans/caresource-ohio/). For other public bids, see [government NEMT contracts](https://nemtguide.com/guides/government-nemt-contracts/).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the Hancock County NET RFP?

It is the request for proposals Hancock County Job and Family Services uses to pick the companies that drive Medicaid non-emergency transportation (NET) and pregnancy related trips. The 2025 RFP, released September 19, 2025, sought contracts for January 1 to December 31, 2026, for trips to doctors, dentists, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and mental health providers anywhere in Ohio.

### Who holds the Hancock County NET contracts for 2026?

On December 16, 2025, the county commissioners approved 2026 NET agreements with USA Cab LLC ($232,400), HHWP CAC, which runs HATS ($166,625), City Mission ($66,458.88), 59 Green LTD ($50,000, its first year), and K&P Medical Transport LLC ($27,054.68). On January 8, 2026, they approved a NET contract with T & H Lift, LLC for about $141,561.24.

### How are Hancock County NET proposals scored?

A review committee of three to five people, at least one familiar with NET and one with no tie to the program, scores each proposal by consensus out of 40 points: 10 for how your organization fits the RFP, 10 for experience and past performance, 10 for whether your unit rate is reasonable, and 10 for your cost narrative. Only proposals scoring 30 or more can be selected.

### When is the next Hancock County NET RFP?

The 2026 contracts allow two 12-month renewals, decided on each year's performance, compliance, and funding. If HCJFS uses both, the contracts run to December 31, 2028, and the next full RFP would likely come in the fall of 2028. Each renewal it skips moves the RFP a year earlier. The 2025 RFP came out September 19 for a January 1 start.

### Does Hancock County pay for wait time or no-shows?

Wait time, yes, but only on trips outside Hancock County, billed in 15-minute increments while the rider is in treatment. No-shows, never: the RFP says the program is paid for by federal funds, so HCJFS cannot pay for them. Build both rules into your unit rate.

### Can I call HCJFS staff about an open NET RFP?

No. From the day the RFP is issued until an agreement is awarded, the RFP bars talking about it with HCJFS staff. Send written questions to the program administrator by the question deadline; HCJFS shares every answer with all registered proposers. HCJFS may also invite you to an interview, at your own travel cost.

## Official resources

- [Hancock County JFS: HCJFS NET RFP 2025](https://www.co.hancock.oh.us/DocumentCenter/View/1526/NET-RFP-2025)
- [Hancock County Commissioners: Agendas and minutes](https://www.co.hancock.oh.us/AgendaCenter)
- [Hancock County JFS: NET Trip Request Form](https://www.co.hancock.oh.us/388/Net-Ride-Request)
- [HATS: Rides, fares, and Medicaid transportation](https://www.hhwpcac.org/programs/hats/)
- [Hancock County Coordinated Human Service Transportation Plan (June 2025 update)](https://www.hhwpcac.org/media/bjuo02ir/final_2025_hancock_coordinated_plan_update_-_june_2025-1.pdf)
- [Ohio Administrative Code: Rule 5160-15-14, checks on private ride companies](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-5160-15-14)