Transportation Related Costs

Overview

Eligible clients may claim travel and lodging costs when seeking health care treatment. This includes roundtrip costs for one time or recurring visits to doctors, clinics, physical therapy sessions and pharmacies.

Transportation costs may include, but are not limited to:

• use of a private car to get to and from appointments. The mileage credit is calculated using the Federal Mileage Rates;
• parking costs and tolls incurred to attend appointments;
• payments to friends/family for medical related transportation;
• actual cost of bus, subway, shuttle or taxi; or
• monthly public transportation passes. You may credit the client for the percentage used for medical transportation.

ExampleExampleSally (she/her) is a retired teacher. She has a monthly MBTA Senior Pass that costs $30 per month.  She sends in a receipt copy of the MBTA Senior Pass and reports that 75% of her trips are for medical-related travel. Sally can claim 75% of the cost of her pass as a medical expense, this comes out to $22.50 per month ($30 X .75 = $22.50).

ExampleExample Jack (he/his) pays a neighbor to take him to his dialysis appointment every Friday. He gives him $5 in cash and the neighbor drops him off and picks him up. Jack provides you with a signed statement from his neighbor verifying this arrangement. You can credit Jack for $21.67 as a monthly transportation cost ($5 x 4.333).

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Transportation Costs (Non-Mileage)

If clients are claiming over $35 per month of medical expenses, they must submit documentary evidence of the costs for public transportation, rideshare, parking, tolls, and/or any other transportation for which they are not using their own vehicle. If the client cannot obtain documentary evidence, collateral contact must be explored. A written self-declaration of these costs may only be accepted as a last resort. Examples of documentary verifications for these costs include, but are not limited to:

• Parking or tolls receipts
• Statement or receipts from a transportation company (e.g., Lyft, Uber) or public transportation (e.g., bus, subway, taxi, The RIDE)
• Signed statement from a family member/friend outside of the SNAP household who is driving the client

Important: A client can provide a written self-declaration indicating the percentage used for transportation costs, if the transportation cost is used for other types of transportation than just strictly for medical-related travel. (i.e. a monthly MBTA pass may be used to travel to work or for recreational purposes, while only a portion is used for medical appointments).

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Transportation Costs (Mileage)

However, if a client uses their own vehicle for medical purposes (e.g., drives to pharmacy to pick up prescriptions, drives to doctor’s appointments), they can receive credit for mileage by providing a written or telephonic self-declaration of their starting location(s), destination(s), and number of trips. Please note that if a starting location is not provided, you must use the client’s residential address as the starting location.

To properly credit mileage, you must enter the home address for the client and the destination of the trip into a map service such as Google Maps or MapQuest. These sites will provide mileage based on a default route. The default route should be used to calculate the allowable expense unless the client indicates that they take a different route.

For the current federal mileage rate, click here.  Mileage may be claimed provided the eligible client uses their own car or a member of the SNAP household uses their car to provide medical-related travel for an elderly and/or disabled household member. You do not need to verify ownership of the vehicle.

You must not assume that all transportation expenses are round-trip. When discussing mileage-related expenses with clients, it is important that you establish whether the mileage declared is one-way or round-trip.

You must save the route results displaying the mileage and upload them into the narratives. Clients must not be asked to provide these printouts. You must include a clear explanation of the expense in the case narrative.

ExampleExample

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Last Update: May 21, 2026