Travel to a QME or Medical-Legal Exam: Documenting California Workers’ Comp Mileage

Review the primary official source.

Before a medical-legal examination, ask whether travel money should already have been provided with the appointment notice. A claim for an examination advance is different from submitting a log after repeated treatment visits. Keep the notice, who requested the examination and what was paid before travel.

Confirm the trip is claim-related

Identify whether this is treatment or an examination, who requested it and the actual location. Under Labor Code section 4600(e), an employee submitting to an examination at the request of the employer, insurer, Administrative Director, WCAB or workers’ compensation judge is entitled to reasonable transportation, meal and lodging expenses incident to attending. The provision also addresses a day of temporary disability indemnity for each day of wages lost in submitting to that examination. Do not assume every self-arranged trip falls within this specific examination provision.

For examinations covered by section 4600(e), the mileage and tolls are to be paid when the worker is notified of the time and place. If no travel payment accompanies the notice, ask the administrator how the advance was calculated and when it will be provided. Keep that response; an unresolved expense question is not permission simply to miss the examination.

Use the rate for the travel date

DWC’s published mileage table shows 72.5 cents per mile for January 1 through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents for travel on or after July 1, 2026. The July form expressly uses $0.76 per mile. Use the actual travel date, not the injury date or the date a later reimbursement request is mailed.

For example, a qualifying 20-mile round trip on July 15 produces $15.20 in mileage before eligible tolls or other expenses. If an advance used an estimated route or an appointment changed, keep both the original calculation and the actual trip details so any adjustment can be identified. Our medical-mileage guide covers repeated treatment trips and the two 2026 rate periods in greater detail.

Create a contemporaneous log

Make the examination entry while the details are fresh: The notice, date, starting address, examination location, actual round-trip distance and reasonable parking or tolls. Separate a personal detour. Keep receipts and identify any amount advanced so it is not claimed again as though nothing had been paid. Section 4600(e)(2) describes mileage from home to the examination and back. If the actual starting point or route differs, show the facts and ask how the reasonable examination-travel amount is being calculated.

If attending caused wage loss, keep the work schedule, hours missed and earnings record as a separate item. Likewise, a necessary meal or overnight stay should be identified and supported, rather than hidden in a mileage total. Section 4600(e) requires reasonable expenses incident to the examination; it is not a promise to pay any preferred hotel, route or meal.

Submit and preserve proof

Reconcile three amounts: What was advanced, what the actual qualifying travel shows and what remains requested. Identify a missing advance, an incorrect rate, unpaid tolls or wage loss separately. Send the supported request to the proper claims contact and preserve delivery evidence and the payment explanation.

The DWC treatment-mileage form tells workers to contact I&A if travel costs are not paid within 60 days. That follow-up instruction does not erase the different advance-payment language for qualifying examinations or guarantee an automatic penalty. If payment is disputed, bring the actual notice, calculation, receipts and response to I&A or counsel. Continue addressing the examination’s attendance and scheduling requirements; a reimbursement inquiry does not extend them.