Mileage for Travel for Medical Care: HSA Eligibility

The current medical mileage rate can be found here: http://www.irs.gov/Tax-Professionals/Standard-Mileage-Rates

What is mileage for travel for medical care?

When traveling for medical care to a hospital or doctor's office, costs of traveling such as parking fees, tolls, gas and oil may be considered eligible for reimbursement with a consumer-directed healthcare account. These costs are associated with using an automobile for obtaining medical care.

Similarly, mileage accrued via public transportation such as a bus, taxi, plane fare or ambulance service may also be counted as mileage for travel for medical care and are therefore eligible for reimbursement.

Other eligible mileage expenses include a parent's transportation expenses if they are accompanying a child who needs medical care. If a nurse must travel with a patient in order to provide injections, medications, or other treatment as required by the individual's medical condition or disease, then the nurse's travel expenses are also eligible for reimbursement.

Regular visits to see a mentally ill or developmentally disabled dependent are also eligible for reimbursement so long as these visits have been recommended by a medical professional as part of that individual's mental health treatment.

Expenses related to mileage for travel for medical care that aren't considered eligible for reimbursement include automobile depreciation, insurance, general repair costs, or any maintenance expenses. Parking violation and traffic violation ticket expenses are also not eligible for reimbursement. Other expenses that aren't eligible include travel to or from work, regardless of whether a medical condition or disease requires an unusual or inconvenient travel path to work. Also, travel for purely personal reasons that happens to include a medical visit to another city's hospital or doctor's office is not eligible (efile.com).