Bill Description: Senate Bill 1353 would impose new regulations on health care providers regarding when they must provide records and how much they can charge for them.

Rating: -1

Does it give government any new, additional, or expanded power to prohibit, restrict, or regulate activities in the free market? Conversely, does it eliminate or reduce government intervention in the market?

Senate Bill 1353 would create Chapter 73, Title 39, Idaho Code, to regulate how much a health care provider may charge for medical records. It also would require providers to release records free of charge under certain circumstances, and to provide records within a certain timeframe. 

For paper records, the maximum allowable charge would be 41 cents per page; "the actual reproduction costs of x-rays or other medical records that are difficult or expensive to duplicate; and the actual costs of sending the records to the patient or the person authorized by the patient."

For electronic records, the maximum allowable charge would be "a flat fee of thirty dollars ($30.00); the actual reproduction costs of x-rays or other medical records that are difficult or expensive to duplicate; the actual costs of sending the records to the patient or the person authorized by the patient; and if the request is fulfilled within ten (10) days and the records are provided in a format that may be immediately viewed or downloaded, an additional fee of twenty dollars ($20.00)."

The bill would also require health care providers to provide “one (1) free copy of a patient's medical records, including mental health records, if requested by a patient, former patient, the patient's authorized attorney, or the patient's authorized representative, for a qualified claim or appeal for benefits under any provision of the social security act. For a subsequent copy of the patient's medical records in one (1) calendar year, provided that no additional medical services have been rendered, a health care provider may charge the allowable rate pursuant to subsection (2) of this section."

The bill also says, "Any request made pursuant to this section shall be fulfilled within thirty (30) days in electronic format, if available."

Government should not impose arbitrary price caps and timeline regulations on private businesses. If a business charges too much or takes too long, the proper remedy is for its clients to seek market alternatives, not for the government to meddle in the process. 

(-1)