Colorado workers’ comp mileage reimbursement pays you $0.63 per mile in 2026 for driving to medical care tied to an accepted work injury, plus parking. You have 120 days from each trip to submit the request to your insurance carrier, and the carrier then has 30 days to pay you or send a written denial.1Department of Labor & Employment. Injured Workers
Which Trips Count
Any travel for medical care connected to your workplace injury is reimbursable. That includes your authorized treating physician, referred specialists, physical therapy, diagnostic imaging, and pharmacy runs for medications or supplies tied to the injury.1Department of Labor & Employment. Injured Workers The Division of Workers’ Compensation mileage calculator also lists “other related treatment” trips.2Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Workers’ Compensation Benefits Calculator
Each trip has to connect directly to the medical management of the specific workplace injury. A visit to your personal doctor about an unrelated condition doesn’t qualify, even if it falls on the same day as a covered appointment. Distance is measured round trip, from your home or workplace to the treatment location and back.
If the insurer disputes whether a particular visit was medically necessary, the mileage for that trip can be challenged too. When the treatment was authorized by the carrier or ordered by an administrative law judge, the travel stays covered no matter how far you drove.
The 2026 Rate
The rate rose to $0.63 per mile on January 1, 2026, up from $0.60 the year before.3Department of Labor & Employment. Division of Workers’ Compensation Updates It covers fuel, wear, and general maintenance, and it applies to every mile you drive for covered care. A 40-mile round trip to a specialist comes to $25.20. The Division updates the figure when the federal mileage standard changes, usually at the start of the calendar year.
Parking and Receipts
Parking for medical visits is reimbursable alongside your mileage.1Department of Labor & Employment. Injured Workers Keep the receipt from any hospital garage or metered lot and submit it with the mileage claim. The calculator page tells workers to “attach any receipts” when sending travel costs to the insurance company, which covers tolls as well.2Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Workers’ Compensation Benefits Calculator Save them as you go. Reconstructing months of parking stubs after the fact is where claims fall apart.
How to File
The Division offers an online mileage calculator. You enter your starting address and the provider’s location, and the tool returns the distance and the dollar amount at the current rate. If the calculator’s route doesn’t match the way you actually drove, you can submit the correct distance to the carrier instead.2Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Workers’ Compensation Benefits Calculator
For every trip you’re claiming, document:
- The date of the appointment or pharmacy pickup
- The full name of the provider you visited
- The street address of your starting point and the destination
- Round-trip mileage
- The dollar amount (miles times $0.63)
If you see multiple providers in one day, log each leg as its own entry. Print the calculator results, attach any parking or toll receipts, and send everything to the insurance company handling your claim. Keep a personal copy of whatever you submit. Most reimbursement problems start when a worker has no backup for paperwork that went missing on the carrier’s end.
The 120-Day and 30-Day Rules
You must request reimbursement within 120 days of the date you traveled. Miss that window and you permanently lose the right to be paid for those trips.1Department of Labor & Employment. Injured Workers Workers with long-running claims often assume they can batch months of driving at the end. They can’t. Submit regularly.
Once the carrier receives your request, it has 30 days to pay or send a written explanation of the denial.1Department of Labor & Employment. Injured Workers Silent denials aren’t permitted. If 30 days pass with no check and no written notice, call the Division of Workers’ Compensation at 303-318-8700.2Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Workers’ Compensation Benefits Calculator When payment arrives, check the dates and amounts against your records. Adjuster math errors are more common than they should be, and they’re easiest to catch early.
If Your Mileage Is Denied
A written denial should state the reason. Common ones are trips the carrier views as unrelated to the injury, visits to unauthorized providers, and submissions past the 120-day deadline. Read the denial carefully before escalating; some are clerical errors a phone call to the adjuster can fix.
For disputes you can’t resolve informally, the Division runs a Medical Billing Dispute Resolution process. You start it by filing Form WC181, the Medical Billing Dispute Resolution Intake Form, online or as a PDF. The Medical Policy Unit reviews whether the insurer complied with the rules, and the Division may issue a Director’s Order setting out any violations and remedies.4Department of Labor & Employment. Workers’ Compensation Forms
One boundary to be aware of: if the real fight is whether the underlying treatment was authorized in the first place, that’s not a billing dispute. Those cases go to the Office of Administrative Courts on an Application for Hearing, which involves testimony and evidence and is where legal representation starts to matter. For a straight mileage question, WC181 usually settles it.