H. B. 4090
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates
R. Thompson, Perdue, Stephens and Staton)
[Introduced January 18, 2002; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article twenty-nine,
chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the
furnishing of one free copy of a patient's medical records.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article twenty-nine, chapter sixteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 29.HEALTH CARE RECORDS
§16-29-2. First copy free; reasonable expenses to be reimbursed
for subsequent copies.
(a) The provider shall be reimbursed by furnish the person
requesting in writing a copy of the records at the time of delivery one set of records free of any charges. After the first set of
records, the provider shall be reimbursed by the person requesting
the records for all reasonable expenses incurred in complying with
this article: Provided, That the cost may not exceed seventy-five
cents per page for the copying of any record or records which have
already been reduced to written form and a search fee may not
exceed ten dollars.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, a provider shall not impose a charge on an indigent person
or his or her authorized representative if the medical records are
necessary for the purpose of supporting a claim or appeal under any
provisions of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §301 et seq.
(c) For purposes of this section, a person is considered
indigent if he or she:
(1) Is represented by an organization or affiliated pro bono
program that provides legal assistance to indigents; or
(2) Verifies on a medical records request and release form
that the records are requested for purposes of supporting a social
security claim or appeal and submits with the release form
reasonable proof that the person is financially unable to pay full
copying charges by reason of unemployment, disability, income below the federal poverty level, or receipt of state or federal income
assistance.
(d) (b) Any person requesting free copies of written medical
records pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) (a) of this
section is limited to one set of copies per provider. Any
additional requests for the same records from the same provider
shall be subject to the fee provisions of subsection (a) of this
section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a patient with
one free copy of his or her medical records.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.