Bill would cap electronic record fees and allow access after death

Providers would have to send eligible records electronically upon payment of the applicable search, retrieval, and copying fees or $188.88, whichever is less. These provisions would cover patients, their authorized representatives, and others legally allowed to obtain records from people licensed by the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts. Electronic delivery would require an electronic request, records stored in an electronic health record, and a provider able to send the records and any requested sworn statement electronically. The fee schedule lists 60 cents per copied page, charges capped at $25, delivery costs, and up to $2 for requested certification or notarization. Providers could charge a reasonable fee based on costs for copies that cannot be sent electronically or routinely made on a standard photocopier. The proposal sets July 1, 2026, for the listed copying fees. Starting July 1, 2027, those fees would rise or fall each July 1 based on the previous calendar year's medical care inflation measure, with adjusted fees published by the Kansas health and environment secretary.

Providers could release a deceased patient's healthcare or payment records to the person managing the estate or a healthcare agent expressly authorized to receive records after death. Other eligible people would include the acting trustee of the patient's trust, specified adult relatives, a guardian or conservator serving at death, and a court-appointed representative for the patient's minor child. Except for the trustee, these people would need sworn statements confirming their roles. The agent would need a valid healthcare power of attorney that has not been revoked and specifically allows release after death. If no estate representative or agent is appointed, access to healthcare records would require a written request, no written objection before death, and no conflict with the patient's wishes known to the provider. A surviving spouse would have priority and would receive healthcare records after providing a sworn statement confirming the marriage. Without a surviving spouse, other listed people could receive them. If enacted, these access provisions would take effect after publication in the statute book.

Providers would be protected from legal responsibility for consequences of transferring patient records in good faith. The protection would cover consequences of disclosure affecting the patient or another person. The protection would apply only when the provider transfers records in good faith. If enacted, this protection would take effect after publication in the statute book.