Billing the Laboratory Specimen Collection Travel Allowance to the 10th of a Mile

To provide more accurate reporting and reimbursement for certain travel distances, MACs will update their claims processing systems to allow billing, acceptance, and adjudication of claims submitted with HCPCS code P9603 calculated to the 10th of a mile for claims with dates of service on or after January 1, 2026.

P9603 specifically relates to travel allowance for specimen collection, which reimburses transportation costs when collecting specimens from eligible Medicare patients.

The per-mile travel allowance applies in 2 situations:

• The round-trip travel to 1 location is greater than 20 eligible miles for specimen collection from 1 or
  more patients (payment for the per-mile travel allowance amount, prorated by the number of
  patients for whom we pay a specimen collection fee)
• When travel is to more than 1 location, regardless of the number of miles traveled

Source: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mm14130-billing-laboratory-specimen-collection-travel-allowance-10th-mile.pdf