A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO INCREASE THE MINIMUM FEE FOR COPYING AND SEARCHING MEDICAL RECORDS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 90‑411 reads as rewritten:
"§ 90‑411.  Record copy fee.
A health care provider or its third‑party copy services provider may charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs incurred in searching, handling, and copying medical records to the patient's designated representative. The fee for each request shall be ninety cents (90¢) per page for the first 25 pages, seventy‑five cents (75¢) per page for pages 26 through 100, and twenty‑five cents (25¢) for each page in excess of 100 pages, provided that the health care provider or third‑party copy services provider may impose a minimum fee of up to twenty dollars ($20.00), inclusive of copying costs. The fee for each request produced for records stored on microfilm, microfiche, or electronic media shall be one dollar ($1.00) per page for the first 25 pages, ninety cents (90¢) per page for pages 26‑100, and fifty cents (50¢) for each page in excess of 100 pages, provided that the health care provider or third‑party copy services provider may impose a minimum fee of up to twenty‑five dollars ($25.00), inclusive of copying costs.
Not later than the first day of January of each year, beginning January 1, 2008, any amounts permitted to be charged under this section shall be increased or decreased by the average percentage of increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (United States City Average, All Items), prepared by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bureau), for the 12‑calendar‑month period prior to the immediately preceding first day of January over the immediately preceding 12‑calendar‑month period, as reported by the Bureau. The Department of Health and Human Services shall make this determination, adjust the amounts accordingly, and post them on its Web site no later than January 1 of each year beginning in 2008.
If requested by the patient or the patient's designated representative, nothing herein shall limit a reasonable professional fee charged by a physician for the review and preparation of a narrative summary of the patient's medical record. This section shall apply with respect to liability claims for personal injury, claims for social security disability, subpoenas, and requests by attorneys and insurers for medical records to be used for any purpose, except that charges for medical records and reports related to claims under Article 1 of Chapter 97 of the General Statutes shall be governed by the fees established by the North Carolina Industrial Commission pursuant to G.S. 97‑26.1. Actual postage may be charged in each instance. This section shall not apply to requests made by the Department of Health and Human Services Disability Determination Services requests for copies of medical records made on behalf of an applicant for Social Security or Supplemental Security Income disability."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 44‑49 reads as rewritten:
"§ 44‑49.  Lien created; applicable to persons non sui juris.
(a)	From and after March 26, 1935, there is hereby created a lien upon any sums recovered as damages for personal injury in any civil action in this State. This lien is in favor of any person, corporation, State entity, municipal corporation or county to whom the person so recovering, or the person in whose behalf the recovery has been made, may be indebted for any drugs, medical supplies, ambulance services, services rendered by any physician, dentist, nurse, or hospital, or hospital attention or services rendered in connection with the injury in compensation for which the damages have been recovered. Where damages are recovered for and in behalf of minors or persons non compos mentis, the liens shall attach to the sum recovered as fully as if the person were sui juris.
(b)	Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, no lien provided for under subsection (a) of this section is valid with respect to any claims whatsoever unless the physician, dentist, nurse, hospital, corporation, or other person entitled to the lien furnishes, without charge to the attorney as a condition precedent to the creation of the lien, upon request to the attorney representing the person in whose behalf the claim for personal injury is made, an itemized statement for the use of the attorney in the negotiation, settlement, or trial of the claim arising by reason of the personal injury, and a written notice to the attorney of the lien claimed. The attorney may receive medical records and reports, with proper patient authorization, for a charge as outlined in G.S. 90‑411.
(c)	No action shall lie against any clerk of court or any surety on any clerk's bond to recover any claims based upon any lien or liens created under subsection (a) of this section when recovery has been had by the person injured, and no claims against the recovery were filed with the clerk by any person or corporation, and the clerk has otherwise disbursed according to law the money recovered in the action for personal injuries."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2007.