California  |  Health Care Law

In California, your doctor or hospital may charge you no more than 25¢ a page for photocopies or 50¢ a page for copies from microfilm. If you request that they mail the copy to you, you can also be charged for postage. Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, your health care provider cannot charge you a fee if you just review your medical record.

Although California law permits a charge for locating records and making them available (these fees are sometimes called “retrieval fees") The HIPAA Privacy Rule does not permit providers to charge these fees. Because the Federal HIPAA Privacy Rule is more protective of your rights in this area, your provider must follow the HIPAA Privacy Rule. They may not charge these fees.

I would remind them of these rules and ask that they reconsider charging you for employee time. There is a statutory penalty that they would be subject to if they willfully ignore application of the state statute.

Regards,

Bryan

Bryan Becker

Becker Attorneys

www.bbeckerlaw.com

877.201.8728