What the statutes mean

There are two situations in which a chiropractor is allowed, by law, to charge for copies of records. The first is when an attorney requests a patient’s records (covered by this section). The second are records requested by a workers compensation carrier (see index). In all other situations a chiropractor is free to charge the patient, or their insurance company, for records but there is no statutory basis that requires an insurance company to pay the charge.

Statute Excerpts:

HFS 117.05 Fees for duplicate records

If a patient or the personal representative of the patient requests copies of the patient's health care records, the health care provider may charge no more than the following fees:

" Thirty-one cents per record page plus $5.25 per X-ray copy plus the actual costs of postage or other means of delivering the requested duplicate records to the person requesting the records.

If a person is requesting copies of another person's health care records and the person making the request is not the personal representative of the patient, a health care provider may charge the requester no more than the following fees:

" For a request generating a total of up to 5 pages, $12.50 per request plus thirty-one cents per record page plus $5.25 per X-ray copy plus the actual costs of postage or other means of delivering the requested duplicate records to the person requesting the records plus an additional $5.00 per request for certifying up to 5 pages of records or $7.50 per requests for certifying 5 or more pages of records.

" For a request generating a total of 5 or more pages, $15.00 per request plus thirty-one cents per record page plus $5.25 per X-ray copy plus the actual costs of postage or other means of delivering the requested duplicate records to the person requesting the records plus an additional $5.00 per request for certifying up to 5 pages of records or $7.50 per requests for certifying 5 or more pages of records.