Medical Records Access Fairness Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4698 To amend the HITECH Act to allow an individual to obtain a copy of such individual’s protected health information at no cost unless certain circumstances apply, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 16, 2019 Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. RASKIN, and Mrs. BEATTY) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the HITECH Act to allow an individual to obtain a copy of such individual’s protected health information at no cost unless certain circumstances apply, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medical Records Ac- 4 cess Fairness Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4698.IH H4698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4698 IH SEC. 2. ACCESS OF INDIVIDUALS TO PROTECTED HEALTH 1 INFORMATION AT NO COST UNLESS CERTAIN 2 CIRCUMSTANCES APPLY. 3 Section 13405 of the HITECH Act (42 U.S.C. 4 17935) is amended by adding at the end the following new 5 subsection: 6 ‘‘(f) ACCESS OF INDIVIDUALS TO PROTECTED 7 HEALTH INFORMATION AT NO COST UNLESS CERTAIN 8 CIRCUMSTANCES APPLY.— 9 ‘‘(1) ACCESS OF INDIVIDUALS TO PROTECTED 10 HEALTH INFORMATION AT NO COST UNLESS CER- 11 TAIN CIRCUMSTANCES APPLY.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In providing an indi- 13 vidual (and, if the individual expressly requests, 14 a health care provider or a family caregiver) 15 with access to a copy of such individual’s pro- 16 tected health information (or a summary or ex- 17 planation of such information) in accordance 18 with section 164.524 of title 45, Code of Fed- 19 eral Regulations, a health care provider may 20 only impose a fee on such individual if the indi- 21 vidual is requesting— 22 ‘‘(i) a duplicate copy (or summary or 23 explanation) of protected health informa- 24 tion that was previously provided to such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4698.IH H4698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4698 IH individual in the same calendar year of the 1 request; or 2 ‘‘(ii) a non-electronic copy (or sum- 3 mary or explanation) of protected health 4 information that the health care provider 5 has made accessible for the individual, at 6 no cost, on an online portal of the health 7 care provider. 8 ‘‘(B) COPIES TRANSMITTED TO OTHER 9 HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.—In the case of an 10 individual who expressly requests a health care 11 provider to transmit to another health care pro- 12 vider a copy of such individual’s protected 13 health information (or a summary or expla- 14 nation of such information), such transmitting 15 provider may transmit such copy (or summary 16 or explanation) in any form and format to the 17 extent that such form and format is readily us- 18 able by such receiving provider. 19 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 20 in this subsection may be construed as requir- 21 ing a health care provider to provide, at no 22 cost, a copy of an individual’s protected health 23 information (or a summary or explanation of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4698.IH H4698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4698 IH such information) to any attorney of such indi- 1 vidual. 2 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than six months 3 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 4 the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 5 promulgate and amend regulations as necessary to 6 implement the requirements described in this sub- 7 section. 8 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 9 apply with respect to requests for access to protected 10 health information made on or after the date that is 11 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 12 subsection.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4698.IH H4698 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS