Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Washington bill would cap third-party charges for electronic medical records at $50
Summary
Supporters told the House committee that third-party retrieval firms are charging patients and their representatives thousands of dollars for electronic medical records; hospitals and release-of-information vendors warned a $50 cap could shift costs to small providers and raise privacy/compliance burdens.
A bill that would limit how much health care providers or their contractors can charge for electronically stored medical records drew sharply opposing testimony before the House Health Care & Wellness Committee on Jan. 16.
Committee staff told lawmakers that the substitute for House Bill 1496 would cap fees for certain recipients at $50 for electronically stored healthcare information and would alter who may recover attorneys’ fees under the Uniform Healthcare Information Act to a “prevailing patient.” Chris Blake, staff to the committee, said current state law permits a clerical/search charge (previously described in statute and adjusted by CPI) and that the proposal would cap certain electronic requests at $50.
Supporters including attorney Elizabeth Hanley and paralegal Pamela Wells described cases in…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
