SB 400 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
04/05/2024 1265s
2024 SESSION
24-2947
05/08
SENATE BILL 400
AN ACT relative to patient access to medical records.
SPONSORS: Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19
COMMITTEE: Health and Human Services
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
This bill reduces the maximum cost for medical records and requires them to be provided electronically upon request.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
04/05/2024 1265s 24-2947
05/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to patient access to medical records.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Medical Records. RSA 332-I:1, I is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
I. All medical information contained in the medical records in the possession of any health care provider, or in the possession of any third-party vendor with whom a health care provider contracts to store, handle, and issue copies of such medical records, shall be deemed to be the property of the patient. The patient or the patient's requestor shall be entitled to a copy of such records upon request, as regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended (“HIPAA”).
(a) For purposes of this section, a "requestor" means the patient, the patient’s personal representative, an individual authorized to access the patient’s medical record through a valid power of attorney, or the patient’s attorney.
(b) For any request made by a requestor, the cost for electronic copies of the patient’s medical records, and all related services, shall not exceed $6.50, and the cost for paper copies of the patient’s medical records, and all related services, shall not exceed $5 for the first page, $.41 per page for pages 2 through 50, and $.30 per page for pages 51 and higher, not to exceed a total cost of $50.
(c) If a patient’s medical records are stored and available in an electronic format, they shall be provided in that format to the requestor. Records which are stored and available in an electronic format shall not be printed and provided in paper format unless specifically requested in paper format by the requestor.
(d) All records being provided pursuant to requests by a requestor shall be provided to the requestor within 30 days of the receipt of the request, and any records not provided within 30 days shall be provided at no cost, absent an independent intervening force majeure which renders the requested records inaccessible, irretrievable, or undeliverable within this 30-day timeframe.
(e) If an incomplete copy of the requested medical records is provided, and additional requests are required to obtain a complete copy of the originally requested medical records, any records provided pursuant to those additional requests shall be provided at no cost.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.
| Date | Amendment |
|---|---|
| March 20, 2024 | 2024-1265s |
| Date | Body | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 14, 2024 | Senate | Hearing |
| Feb. 14, 2024 | Senate | Hearing |
| April 4, 2024 | Senate | Floor Vote |
| April 25, 2024 | House | Hearing |
April 17, 2024: Public Hearing: 04/25/2024 01:00 pm LOB 206-208
April 10, 2024: Introduced (in recess of) 03/28/2024 and referred to Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs HJ 11
April 5, 2024: Ought to Pass with Amendment 2024-1265s, MA, VV; OT3rdg; 04/05/2024; SJ 8
April 5, 2024: Committee Amendment # 2024-1265s, AA, VV; 04/05/2024; SJ 8
March 20, 2024: Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2024-1265s, 04/05/2024, Vote 3-2; SC 13
Feb. 12, 2024: ==ROOM CHANGE== Hearing: 02/14/2024, Room 100, SH, 09:45 am; ; SC 7
Feb. 8, 2024: Hearing: 02/14/2024, Room 101, LOB, 09:45 am; SC 7
Dec. 12, 2023: To Be Introduced 01/03/2024 and Referred to Health and Human Services; SJ 1