Better late than never:

On December 31 the Internal Revenue Service issued the 2020 standard mileage rates. Beginning on January 1, 2020, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck will be 57.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (down from 58 cents in 2019)

The standard mileage rate is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile.

California Labor Code §4600 (e)(2), working in conjunction with Government Code §19820 and Department of Personnel Administration regulations, requires claims administrators to reimburse injured workers for such expenses at the rate adopted by the Director of the Department of Personnel Administration for non-represented (excluded) state employees, which is tied to the IRS published mileage rate.

As a result, effective for travel on or after January 1, 2020, the rate that California workers’ compensation claims administrators pay injured workers for travel related to medical care or evaluation of their injuries will also decrease to 57.5 cents per mile.

Our WorkCompAcademy.com sister publication, WorkCompApps.com has updated it’s FREE mileage calculator which you can use from your desktop, tablet or smart-phone by going to WorkCompApps.com and selecting “Tables/Calculators” and then select “Calculate Mileage” from the drop down menu.

Also, the Division of Workers Compensation has posted an order adjusting the Ambulance Services section of the Official Medical Fee Schedule (OMFS) to conform to changes in the Medicare payment system as required by Labor Code section 5307.1.

The update order is effective for services rendered on or after January 1, 2020, and can be found at the DWC website’s OMFS page.