In recent years, many cases have been filed nationwide regarding health care providers' practices of charging fees for copying medical records for patients themselves, other health care providers, and other parties including attorneys. Such cases arise from the fact that the federal government and many states have implemented a patchwork of regulation regarding the level and types of permissible fees that can be charged.

At the federal level, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations provide that covered entities can only charge "reasonable, cost-based" fees for copying, postage, or the preparation of summary materials if agreed to by the individual. See 45 CFR 164.524(c).And at the state level, the permissible fees vary significantly from state to state. While some states provide only that such fees should be "reasonable" see Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-2295, others provide very specific limits of what, exactly, can be charged. See 6 Colo. Code. Regs. § 1011-1, Chapter 2, Part 5.2.3.4. ("The discharged patient or personal representative... shall pay for the reasonable cost of obtaining a copy of his/her patient record, not to exceed $14.00 for the first ten or fewer pages, $.50 per page for pages 11-40, and $.33 per page for every additional page. Actual postage or shipping costs and applicable sales tax, if any, also may be charged. The per-page fee for records copied from microfilm shall be $1.50 per page.").Most of these rules are motivated, at least in part, by weighing the pronounced policy in favor of patient access to records, against the legitimate costs to providers, and third parties, of gathering, reviewing, copying, and distributing such records.

In any case, whether due to providers' willful attempt to obtain excess profits, or to their legitimate confusion due to the patchwork of rules, class actions based on excess fees for medical records have been filed to obtain refunds for consumers. As consumer and patient advocates, we believe strongly that patients have a right to these records at a reasonable cost, whether it be for purposes of changing health care providers outright, getting a second opinion, or any other purpose. If you are a consumer who has paid unreasonable fees for medical records, Finkelstein Thompson LLP welcomes your call. The firm's Washington, D.C. office can be reached at (877) 337-8000 or by email at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it