An Act To Lower the Cost of Copies of Medical Records

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §1711, 5th ¶,  as amended by PL 2003, c. 418, §1, is further amended to read:

Reasonable costs incurred by the hospital in making and providing copies of medical records and additions to medical records must be borne by the requesting person and the hospital may require payment prior to responding to the request. The charge for copies of records may not exceed $10 $5 for the first page and 35¢ for each additional page.

Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §1711-A,  as amended by PL 2003, c. 418, §2, is further amended to read:

§ 1711-A. Fees charged for records

Whenever a health care practitioner defined in section 1711-B furnishes requested copies of a patient's treatment record or a medical report or an addition to a treatment record or medical report to the patient or the patient's authorized representative, the charge for the copies or the report may not exceed the reasonable costs incurred by the health care practitioner in making and providing the copies or the report. The charge for copies of records may not exceed $10 $5 for the first page and 35¢ for each additional page.

summary

This bill reduces the maximum amount that a hospital may charge for copies of medical records for the first page from $10 to $5.