Bill Text: NY A01943 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Allows for patients to make a written request to receive copies of their medical records.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-14 - referred to health [A01943 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A01943-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1943

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 14, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ROSENTHAL  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Health

        AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to a patient's  writ-
          ten request to receive copies of medical records

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 17 of the public health law, as amended by  chapter
     2  165 of the laws of 1991, and the first undesignated paragraph as amended
     3  by chapter 322 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
     4    §  17.  Release of medical records. 1. Upon the written request of any
     5  competent patient, parent or guardian of an infant, a guardian appointed
     6  pursuant to article eighty-one of the mental hygiene law, or conservator
     7  of a conservatee, an examining,  consulting  or  treating  physician  or
     8  hospital  must  release  and deliver, exclusive of personal notes of the
     9  said physician or hospital, copies of all x-rays,  medical  records  and
    10  test  records  including  all laboratory tests regarding that patient to
    11  any other designated physician or hospital provided, however, that  such
    12  records  concerning  the  treatment  of  an  infant patient for venereal
    13  disease or the performance of an abortion  operation  upon  such  infant
    14  patient  shall not be released or in any manner be made available to the
    15  parent or guardian of such infant, and provided, further, that  original
    16  mammograms, rather than copies thereof, shall be released and delivered.
    17  Either  the  physician  or  hospital  incurring the expense of providing
    18  copies of x-rays, medical records and test records including all labora-
    19  tory tests pursuant to the provisions  of  this  section  may  impose  a
    20  reasonable  charge  to  be paid by the person requesting the release and
    21  deliverance  of  such  records  as  reimbursement  for  such   expenses,
    22  provided,  however,  that  the  physician  or  hospital may not impose a
    23  charge for copying an original mammogram  when  the  original  has  been
    24  released or delivered to any competent patient, parent or guardian of an
    25  infant,  a  guardian  appointed  pursuant  to  article eighty-one of the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05441-01-5
        A. 1943                             2

     1  mental hygiene law, or a conservator  of  a  conservatee  and  provided,
     2  further,  that  any charge for delivering an original mammogram pursuant
     3  to this section shall not exceed the documented costs associated  there-
     4  with.  However,  the reasonable charge for paper copies shall not exceed
     5  seventy-five cents per page. A release of  records  under  this  section
     6  shall not be denied solely because of inability to pay. No charge may be
     7  imposed  under  this  section  for  providing,  releasing, or delivering
     8  medical records or copies of medical records  where  requested  for  the
     9  purpose of supporting an application, claim or appeal for any government
    10  benefit  or  program,  provided that, where a provider maintains medical
    11  records in electronic form, it shall provide the copy  in  either  elec-
    12  tronic  or paper form, as required by the government benefit or program,
    13  or at the patient's request.
    14    2. Upon the written request of any competent patient, parent or guard-
    15  ian of an infant, a guardian appointed pursuant to article eighty-one of
    16  the mental hygiene law, or conservator of a conservatee,  an  examining,
    17  consulting  or treating physician or hospital shall release and deliver,
    18  exclusive of personal notes of the said physician or hospital, copies of
    19  all x-rays, medical records and test records  including  all  laboratory
    20  tests  regarding  that  patient  directly  to  such  patient,  or to the
    21  patient's attorney, authorized representative, guardian, or conservator,
    22  where applicable.  The physician or hospital shall provide such  records
    23  without  charge to the patient, provided, however, if such patient shall
    24  request a second copy of such medical records, the physician or hospital
    25  may charge a copying fee not to exceed twenty cents per page,  with  the
    26  total cost not to exceed one hundred dollars, whichever is less.
    27    3.  For the purposes of this section the term "laboratory tests" shall
    28  include but not be limited to tests  and  examinations  administered  in
    29  clinical  laboratories  or  blood  banks  as  those terms are defined in
    30  section five hundred seventy-one of this chapter.
    31    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.