Do they pay for my trips to the doctor?

Yes. Travel for medical care in your workers' comp case is reimbursable — and it's one of the most commonly unclaimed benefits in the system. It costs nothing to claim and adds up fast.

What counts

Reasonable expenses of transportation incident to your medical treatment are part of the medical care your employer owes you (Labor Code § 4600). That includes:

• Mileage driving your own car to and from doctor visits, physical therapy, imaging (MRI/X-ray), pharmacy trips, and medical-legal evaluations (QME/AME exams the insurer sends you to)
• Parking at those visits
• Bridge tolls
• Public transportation fare if you don't drive — bus, train, rideshare where reasonable

The per-mile rate is set each year (it tracks the IRS standard mileage rate) and is keyed to the date of the trip — trips from different years are reimbursed at that year's rate.

How to claim it

1. Log every trip — date, where from, where to, why, round-trip miles, plus parking/toll receipts. A phone note or paper notebook is fine. Do it as you go; reconstructing a year of appointments later is much harder (though it can be done from your medical records).
2. Put it on the official form. The DWC publishes a Medical Mileage Expense Form — free from the Division of Workers' Compensation website (dwc.ca.gov, under forms). Use the form version that matches the year of your trips, since the rate is printed on it.
3. Send it to the claims administrator (the insurance adjuster handling your claim) and keep a copy with proof of when you sent it.
4. They have 60 days. The form itself provides that the claims administrator has 60 days to pay after receiving it. Not paid? That's a penalty issue — note the date and raise it (or have your lawyer raise it).

Skip the paperwork: use our free tool

Our free tool at mileage.knowyourrightsatwork.com calculates your mileage at the correct rate for each trip date and fills out the official DWC form for you — including trips from the past that you never claimed. You sign in with just your phone number (we text you a code — no account, no password), and your information is never sold or shared. Prefer paper? The steps above work fine too.