Minnesota has a few alternative options for reimbursing these medical costs, which may be available to more than just the hurt employee.
In this blog, we’ll explain who is eligible to get reimbursed for medical travel expenses and how to obtain payment.
Reimbursement For Medical-Related Travel Expenses
When employees drive themselves to necessary medical care following a work injury under Minnesota law, they are eligible for medical mileage reimbursement.
The law states that travel reimbursements will be calculated using the rate their employer reimburses them for travel expenses or whatever is lower than that permitted under state legislation.
As of July 1, 2022, Minnesota provides 62.5 cents per mile as compensation. If you can drive yourself to your medical appointments, whether it’s for doctor visits, physical therapy sessions, or other rehabilitation appointments, keep track of your mileage and give it to your lawyer so they can assure you are compensated for your travel. What happens if you break a leg or another severe injury prevents you from driving yourself to an appointment on your own?
Compensation for Rides to Medical Appointments
According to the law, the employer must cover reasonable costs if an employee cannot find transportation to a medical appointment. This includes transit fares for taxis, Ubers, or other medical transportation services. To ensure you’re compensated for your expenses: hold on to your receipts and give them to your lawyer or file them with your employer’s insurance company. By law, they then have 30 days to reimburse you.
The insurer may reimburse an individual for transportation expenses if your spouse, significant other, or friend drives you there. In 2013, in the case of Kuhnau v. Manpower Inc., the court established a precedent when Kuhnau, the injured employee, could not drive himself to his medical appointments due to his work injury. His wife went there, and they sued for reimbursement for mileage and the value of her time.
The wife was initially ruled to be eligible for mileage reimbursement, not time spent on these trips, by the court. However, the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals reversed the prior decision, saying that since an employer would be liable for medical or other transport costs without such assistance, there is no basis for denying a reasonable fee to the spouse.”
In other words, the WCCA believed that being driven by a family member or friend was more cost-effective than hiring a taxi or an Uber, so they said there was no reason to exclude a reasonable amount for the driver’s time and mileage.
There is no established figure for what constitutes fair compensation for one’s time. Therefore, keep track of your mileage and time spent on the journey if you are being driven by someone else and give these figures to your lawyer. They will be able to look back on prior rulings to determine an appropriate amount to demand.
Contact Harvey and Carpenter Lawyers at Law To Book Your Free Consultation
To Contact Harvey and Carpenter Lawyers at Law, please call us at 507-779-7529, or you can visit our office at 75 Teton Ln, Mankato, MN 56001.