Medical and Transportation Reimbursement

You are entitled to reimbursement for medically-related travel expenses.  This includes travel to and from the doctors, IME appointments (including travel to pick up X-Rays, MRIs, etc. for IME exams), physical therapy, or visits to other medical practitioners.  IT DOES NOT COVER travel to pick up prescriptions, meet with your attorney, or to look for work.  

The mileage reimbursement rates are set forth in the table below:  

Start Date	Rate (¢/mile)	Start Date	Rate (¢/mile)
1-1-18	54.5	7-1-22	62.5
1-1-19	58.0	1-1-23	65.5
1-1-20	57.5	1-1-24	67.0
1-1-21	56.0	1-1-25	70.0
1-1-22	58.5	1-1-26	use Fed business rate

The WCB mileage rates follow the federal business mileage available here.

TO REQUEST REIMBURSEMENT:

1. Write the dates, the name and address of the medical provider, and the round trip mileage on a modified C-257 form along with your identifying information such as name, case number, etc.. If you are good with computers you can also use the this excel spreadsheet to calculate your mileage.  
   • You can find the dates of your medical appointments through the Workers’ Compensation Board’s e-case system. After you have registered for ecase, you can login here. Please make sure you do not request reimbursement for telemedicine visits.  Physical therapist and chiropractors often put multiple visits on a single bill, so make sure you list every visit.
2. Calculate the amount of reimbursement you are requesting by multiplying the roundtrip mileage by the appropriate mileage reimbursement rate.  
   • Please note that when the carrier audits your request they will look in your Board file and if the provider has not submitted a bill or report for a specific date they will most likely deny reimbursement for any dates they cannot verify. Carriers calculate mileage via MapQuest or a similar program so their calculations may differ slightly from yours.
3. SEND A COPY OF YOUR REIMBURSEMENT REQUEST DIRECTLY TO THE INSURANCE CARRIER.
   • Your adjuster’s contact information can be found by logging into ecase, then clicking on the FROI/SROI tab, and then scrolling to the bottom.
   • If you do not receive payment within 2 months or do not receive the full amount of your request with an explanation of what hasn’t been paid reach out to the carrier. If they do not respond, please email us.
4. Send copy to the Workers’ Compensation Board
   • By mail to Workers’ Compensation Board, P.O. Box 5205, Binghamton, NY 13901, or
   • via fax to 1-877-533-0337, or
   • by email wcbclaimsfiling@wcb.ny.gov. You must include your name and WCB # in the subject. The Board only accepts the following file formats: TXT, .DAT, .JPG, .JPEG, .GIF, .PNG, .BMP, .DOC, .DOCX, .PPT, .PPTX, .RTF, .XLS, .XLSX, .TIF, .TIFF, .PDF, .VCF, .LNK.
5. Keep a copy of your reimbursement request for your record. If you do not keep a copy for your self, you run the risk that the insurance company will loose the copy you sent and you will have to start your reimbursement request from scratch.

If you do not have a vehicle available to you, you may be entitled to be reimbursed for taxis and/or any other needed forms of transportation.  Please make sure you keep receipts and list those expenses on the C-257 form.

You are also entitled to reimbursement for medical expenses including medications, medical equipment, etc., prescribed for your work-related problems, up to the amount allowed by the Workers’ Compensation Pharmaceutical Fee Schedule, available at http://www.wcb.ny.gov under health care providers, and fee schedules.  Your doctor must get most prescriptions preapproved or the carrier may not have to pay.  Most carriers will issue you a prescription card because it costs them less if prescriptions are purchased as part of their plan. If the carrier has given you a prescription card, the carrier may not have to reimburse you for prescriptions purchased outside of that plan.  

Non-prescription medications and medications that are not related to an established work-related injury are not covered under Compensation.