Cancellation & No-Show Policy

Life happens — here's how missed sessions are handled

Your appointment time is held exclusively for you, and when a session is missed without notice, that hour can't be offered to someone else who needed it. This policy exists to keep scheduling fair and predictable — not to punish anyone for having a hard week.

Last updated: August 2026 · This policy is reviewed and signed during intake.

The Short Version

Three things to remember

Situation	What Happens
Cancel or reschedule with 24+ hours' noticeBy phone, email, or the client portal	No charge
Cancel with less than 24 hours' noticeOr arriving more than 10 minutes late	First time: no charge After that: full session fee
No-show — no contact at allSession time passes without you joining	First time: no charge After that: full session fee

Everyone gets one grace occurrence. Genuine emergencies and sudden illness are waived beyond that as well — just reach out and say so.

Giving Notice

24 hours, by whatever method is easiest

To cancel or reschedule without a fee, please give at least 24 hours' notice before your scheduled start time. Notice can be given any of these ways, and any one of them counts:

Call (337) 283-9997 — a voicemail left before the 24-hour mark counts as notice
Email admin@pridehealing.com
Cancel or reschedule yourself through the client portal at pridehealing.clientsecure.me

You never need to explain why. "I need to reschedule" is a complete sentence, and it will never be met with pushback or follow-up questions.

Late Arrivals

The 10-minute mark

If you haven't joined the session within 10 minutes of the scheduled start time and there's been no word from you, the appointment is treated as a no-show and the time is released. If you do join late within that window, the session still ends at its original scheduled time so the next client isn't kept waiting — and the full session fee still applies.

Technology trouble is its own category. If your video or connection fails, call or text right away and the session can often be finished by phone instead. A good-faith attempt to connect is never treated as a no-show.

The Grace Occurrence

Everyone gets one

The first late cancellation or no-show carries no charge, no matter the reason. Recovery and mental health work aren't tidy, and one missed session shouldn't come with a bill attached.

After that first occurrence, each subsequent late cancellation or no-show is billed at a flat fee of $100. This is a private-pay charge that insurance does not cover, and it's charged to the card kept securely on file.

When the Fee Is Waived

Real emergencies are always honored

Even beyond the grace occurrence, the fee is waived at clinical discretion for circumstances genuinely outside your control. That includes:

Sudden illness, injury, or a medical emergency — yours or a dependent's
A death in the family or a family crisis
Severe weather, evacuation orders, or a widespread power or internet outage
A mental health crisis that made attending impossible
Any situation where charging you would clearly do more harm than good

You will never be asked for documentation or proof. Simply reach out and explain the situation, and it will be handled with the benefit of the doubt.

Payment Method on File

How the fee is collected

A valid credit or debit card is kept securely on file through the practice's HIPAA-compliant billing system as a condition of scheduling. Late cancellation and no-show fees are charged to that card, and you'll always receive an emailed receipt. Card details are stored by the payment processor, not by the practice.

Repeated Missed Sessions

When it's worth a conversation

If missed sessions become a pattern — generally three or more within a short span — that's usually a signal worth exploring rather than a rule to enforce. Sometimes the appointment time no longer fits your life, sometimes ambivalence about treatment is showing up in the calendar, and sometimes something bigger is going on.

In those cases, the conversation comes first. If a schedule change or a different level of care would serve you better, that's discussed openly and a referral is offered. Standing appointment slots may be released after repeated no-shows so the time can be offered to someone on the waitlist, but the door stays open to return.

Cancellations From This End

It goes both ways

If a session has to be cancelled from this end — illness, emergency, or an unavoidable conflict — you'll be notified as early as possible and offered priority rescheduling, typically within the same week. You are never charged for a session cancelled by the practice.

Insurance Note

What insurers will and won't pay

Insurance plans, including Medicaid and Medicare, do not reimburse for missed appointments. Once insurance billing is active for your care, any late cancellation or no-show fee remains your direct responsibility and cannot be billed to your plan.

Questions

Ask before it's an issue

If anything here is unclear, or if your circumstances make a 24-hour window genuinely difficult to meet, say so during intake. Accommodations can often be worked out in advance — email admin@pridehealing.com or call (337) 283-9997.

Louisiana Medicaid

If Medicaid is your coverage, no fee applies

Louisiana Medicaid rules prohibit this practice from billing either Medicaid or you for an appointment that didn’t happen. That means no late-cancellation fee and no no-show fee is ever charged to a client covered by Louisiana Medicaid or a Medicaid managed care plan — there is no waiver or agreement that changes this, and you will never be asked to sign one.

The rest of this page still matters, though. Giving 24 hours’ notice when you can protects a session slot for someone else and keeps your own care on track. Missed sessions are still documented, and you may hear from the practice afterward to check in and get you rescheduled — that outreach is part of the care, not a penalty.

If a pattern of missed sessions continues, the practice may need to talk with you about whether this is the right fit right now. That conversation happens directly with you first, with referrals and help transitioning if care ends. Everyone else’s policy is identical apart from the fee itself, which state law removes.

Full Policy

Medicaid Missed Appointments, Late Cancellations, and Attendance Policy

Effective 06/06/2026 · Pride Healing & Recovery Services

Purpose

Regular attendance is important to the counseling process, treatment progress, and the availability of appointments for all clients. This policy explains how Pride Healing & Recovery Services handles missed appointments and late cancellations for clients enrolled in Medicaid.

Medicaid Clients Are Not Charged a Missed-Appointment Fee

Clients are asked to provide at least 24 hours’ notice whenever they need to cancel or reschedule an appointment. Because Medicaid rules generally do not allow missed-appointment fees to be charged to Medicaid beneficiaries, Medicaid clients will not be charged a financial fee for a late cancellation or no-show.

A missed appointment, late cancellation, or no-show is not a billable counseling service. Pride Healing & Recovery Services will not submit a claim to Medicaid for an appointment that did not occur.

Definition of Missed Appointment

A missed appointment includes:

A no-show: the client does not attend the scheduled appointment and does not provide notice.
A late cancellation: the client cancels or requests to reschedule with less than 24 hours’ notice, except when there is an emergency or another circumstance the practice determines warrants an exception.
A late arrival: if the client arrives more than 10 minutes after the appointment start time and the remaining time is not sufficient to provide an appropriate clinical service, the appointment may be treated as a missed appointment.

Telehealth Appointments

For telehealth appointments, clients should join the scheduled session promptly using the approved telehealth link. The counselor will wait up to 10 minutes after the scheduled start time unless other arrangements have been made.

If the client has not joined by the end of the 10-minute grace period, the counselor may send one reminder through the client’s approved contact method. If the client does not join or contact the practice, the appointment will be documented as a no-show. Technical difficulties will be considered when reported or reasonably apparent.

Attendance Expectations

Although Medicaid clients are not charged a missed-appointment fee, clients are expected to participate consistently in scheduled treatment. Repeated missed appointments can interrupt treatment, delay progress, and prevent the practice from offering appointment times to other clients who need care.

After a missed appointment, Pride Healing & Recovery Services may contact the client through the preferred approved contact method to offer rescheduling and to discuss possible barriers to attendance. Barriers may include work demands, transportation, childcare, technology limitations, illness, safety concerns, or confusion about the appointment time.

Progressive Attendance Response

First late cancellation or no-show

The missed appointment will be documented.
The practice may contact the client to check in, offer rescheduling, and review this policy.
The counselor may discuss barriers that affected attendance and determine whether a different appointment time or reminder approach would help.

Second late cancellation or no-show

The missed appointment will be documented.
The client will receive an attendance warning and a review of this policy.
The counselor may reassess the client’s appointment time, frequency of care, or ability to maintain a standing weekly appointment.
The practice may remove the client’s recurring appointment time and require the client to schedule appointments as available.

Third late cancellation or no-show

The missed appointment will be documented.
The counselor will review the client’s attendance pattern and clinical needs.
If clinically appropriate, the practice may discharge the client from services, refer the client to another provider or resource, or require client-initiated scheduling.
Discharge decisions will consider the client’s safety, clinical acuity, treatment needs, disability-related accommodations, and the need for continuity of care.

Time Period for Attendance Review

Three missed appointments, late cancellations, or no-shows within a rolling 90-day period may result in a clinical review and possible discharge from services or referral elsewhere when clinically appropriate.

Emergencies and Exceptions

Pride Healing & Recovery Services recognizes that emergencies and unexpected events occur. Exceptions may be considered for illness, hospitalization, family emergencies, safety concerns, technology failures, severe weather, transportation problems, or other circumstances outside the client’s reasonable control.

Clients should contact the practice as soon as reasonably possible if an emergency prevents attendance. Repeated emergency-related absences may still require a discussion about whether the current appointment time or treatment format is workable.

High-Risk or Urgent Situations

A missed appointment may require additional clinical follow-up when there are known safety concerns, recent suicidal or homicidal ideation, acute substance-use concerns, domestic-violence concerns, a minor client with elevated risk, or other circumstances indicating possible danger.

In these situations, the counselor may use the emergency-contact, welfare-check, crisis, or safety procedures described in the client’s informed-consent and emergency-contact documentation. A missed appointment alone does not guarantee emergency outreach; the response will be based on clinical judgment and available risk information.

Client Responsibilities

Clients agree to:

Attend scheduled appointments or provide as much notice as possible when they cannot attend.
Keep contact information current.
Use the approved telehealth link and notify the practice promptly of technical problems.
Contact the practice to reschedule after a missed appointment.
Discuss barriers that make regular attendance difficult.
Understand that repeated missed appointments may result in loss of a recurring appointment time, client-initiated scheduling, referral, or discharge from services.

Practice Responsibilities

Pride Healing & Recovery Services agrees to:

Not charge Medicaid clients a financial late-cancellation or no-show fee.
Not submit a Medicaid claim for a counseling appointment that did not occur.
Apply this policy consistently while considering reasonable accommodations and individual clinical circumstances.
Document missed appointments, outreach attempts, attendance discussions, and clinically relevant decisions.
Provide appropriate transition, referral, or emergency information if services are ended when clinically appropriate.

Crisis and Emergency Information

This practice is NOT an emergency service. If a client is in immediate danger, experiencing a medical emergency, or has thoughts of harming self or others, call 911, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or go to the nearest emergency department.

Questions about this policy? Email admin@pridehealing.com or call (337) 283-9997. A signed acknowledgment of this policy is included in the intake packet for Medicaid clients.

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