medical record

When my former primary was leaving her practice, I was told there wouldn't be a charge for my record if I decided to go to another office for primary care.

Today I was told that the people who took over the practice (Mr. and Mrs. Doctor) do intend to charge me to obtain a copy of my medical record.

I questioned the fee Mr. Doctor wanted to assess and was told this is what Mr. Doctor charges for copies of "his" notes.

Prior to this, I've only ever had one doctor's office charge me for copies of records and that was the unbelievably jerky guy I saw for a couple of months back in 2002/2003 (the one who assumed I thought I had "chronic Lyme").

While the cost is less than a buck a page, which sure doesn't sound like much, little charges add up when you're as broke as I am (I make $125 a week right now. In the Fall, if I'm lucky, that'll go up to about $250 a week).

On a whim, I looked up cost, medical record, my state name, and law. It took very little time to find out that although it's perfectly legal for a provider to charge fees to cover the cost of copying and paper, there's a cap on the amount which can be charged to a patient. This varies by state, but in CT it is 30% less than what Mr. Doctor is asking.

From Georgetown University's Center on Medical Records Rights and Privacy - Connecticut

And from the source itself, CT statute - Title 20, Chapter 369, Section 20-7c