Billing Beat

MM13071 – Travel Allowance Fees for Specimen Collection: 2023 Updates

February 5, 2023

CMS released a new travel allowance fee for specimen collection.  CMS will Implement the update 1/23/2023 with an effective date of 1/1/2023.

Updates to the Travel Allowance Mileage Rate

The travel allowance mileage rate for CY 2023 is $1.11, based on:

P9603

• The IRS standard mileage rate, which is $0.655, plus

• The most recent median BLS-published hourly wage for phlebotomists, which is $17.97 divided by 40 to represent an average miles-per-hour driving speed, which is $0.45

Flat-Rate Travel Allowance

The flat-rate trip basis travel allowance of $11.10, based on:

The flat-rate travel allowance basis applies when the trained technician travels 20 eligible miles or less to and from 1 location for specimen collection from 1 or more Medicare patients.

Laboratories bill Medicare using HCPCS code P9604 to get the flat-rate travel allowance amount, prorated by the number of patients for whom we pay a specimen collection fee.

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