Bill Text: NY A04041 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides that notwithstanding the provisions of the public health law, no other fee other than those authorized by section 2303 (a) of the civil practice law and rules may be exacted or levied for the production of records relating to the condition or treatment of a patient; relates to access by an adverse party to medical records.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to judiciary [A04041 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A04041-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4041
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 31, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. QUART --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
        AN  ACT  to  amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to fees
          charged by medical record custodians for production of records  pursu-
          ant  to  subpoena  duces tecum; and to amend the public health law, in
          relation to access by an adverse party to medical records
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 2306 of the civil practice law and rules is amended
     2  by adding a new subdivision (c) to read as follows:
     3    (c)  Fees. Notwithstanding the provisions of the public health law, no
     4  fee, other than those authorized by subdivision (a) of  section  twenty-
     5  three  hundred  three  of this article, may be exacted or levied for the
     6  production of records relating  to  the  condition  or  treatment  of  a
     7  patient.
     8    §  2.  Section 18 of the public health law, as added by chapter 800 of
     9  the laws of 1986, is renumbered section 18-b.
    10    § 3. Paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 18 of the public health
    11  law, as amended by chapter 634 of the laws of 2004, is amended  to  read
    12  as follows:
    13    (g)  "Qualified  person"  means any properly identified subject; or an
    14  adverse party; or a guardian appointed under article eighty-one  of  the
    15  mental hygiene law; or a parent of an infant; or a guardian of an infant
    16  appointed under article seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act
    17  or  other legally appointed guardian of an infant who may be entitled to
    18  request access to a clinical record under paragraph (c)  of  subdivision
    19  two  of  this section; or a distributee of any deceased subject for whom
    20  no personal representative, as defined in the estates, powers and trusts
    21  law, has been appointed; or an attorney representing a qualified  person
    22  or the subject's estate who holds a power of attorney from the qualified
    23  person  or  the  subject's  estate  explicitly authorizing the holder to
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08409-01-9
        A. 4041                             2
     1  execute a written request for patient information under this section.  A
     2  qualified person shall be deemed a "personal representative of the indi-
     3  vidual"  for  purposes  of  the federal health insurance portability and
     4  accountability act of 1996 and its implementing regulations.
     5    §  4.  Subdivision 1 of section 18 of the public health law is amended
     6  by adding two new paragraphs (j) and (k) to read as follows:
     7    (j) "Adverse party" means a person or entity who may have legal finan-
     8  cial liability due to the subject's medical condition or  treatment  and
     9  includes  such  person's  or  entity's  representative,  including their
    10  attorney or insurance company, who may have  legal  financial  liability
    11  due to the subject's medical condition or treatment.
    12    (k) "Written request of any qualified person" means a written authori-
    13  zation  signed and acknowledged by the subject permitting the release of
    14  medical records or subpoena duces tecum served by  or  on  behalf  of  a
    15  qualified person.
    16    § 5. Subdivision 8 of section 18 of the public health law, as added by
    17  chapter 497 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:
    18    8.  Challenges  to accuracy. A qualified person, other than an adverse
    19  party, may challenge the  accuracy  of  information  maintained  in  the
    20  patient  information  and  may  require  that  a brief written statement
    21  prepared by him or her concerning the challenged information be inserted
    22  into the patient information. This statement shall  become  a  permanent
    23  part  of  the  patient  information  and  shall be released whenever the
    24  information at issue is released. This subdivision shall apply  only  to
    25  factual  statements  and  shall  not  include a provider's observations,
    26  inferences or conclusions.
    27    A facility may place reasonable restrictions on the time and frequency
    28  of any challenges to accuracy.
    29    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and  shall  apply  to  all
    30  subpoenas  duces  tecum for production of records relating to the condi-
    31  tion or treatment of a patient which are served on the effective date of
    32  this act; and shall further apply to all requests for  patient  informa-
    33  tion that are pending on the effective date of this act.