Medical record requests would cap fees and require timely delivery

Health-care facilities and individual health-care providers would limit the total fees charged to a patient's attorney to $400 for a record request exceeding 664 pages. The rule covers requests by an attorney representing a patient or the patient's personal representative, made with a HIPAA-compliant authorization, valid subpoena, or valid court order. The limit would not apply when the facility or provider must separate, withhold, or remove protected health information to comply with the law. The limit would be adjusted for inflation on January 1, 2028, and every January 1 in even-numbered years afterward, but it could not fall below $400. The fee limit and inflation adjustments would apply when the act takes effect; the first adjustment would occur on January 1, 2028.

Health-care facilities and individual health-care providers would deliver records electronically when requested and readily available in electronic form, send an invoice within 30 days, and provide late records at no cost in most cases. The rules cover valid requests for medical records from health-care facilities and individual health-care providers, including requests by patients, representatives, attorneys, or other authorized requesters. Electronic delivery would be required only when the requester asks for it, the original records are stored electronically, and the records are readily producible electronically. The requester must pay the invoice before receiving the records. A facility or provider could take one additional 30-day period only if it gives written notice during the first 30 days. The no-cost rule would not apply when an outside event makes the records inaccessible, impossible to retrieve, or impossible to deliver; the entity would then have to send required notices within five business days of learning about and resolving the event, as applicable. Nothing requires disclosure of privileged, confidential, or otherwise protected information. The initial invoice and response period would run from receipt of a valid request; an approved extension would add up to 30 days. The act would take effect after the statutory post-adjournment period unless a referendum petition delays it for voter approval.