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                              2032-A State law requires that a health care provider give individuals one free copy of their medical records but HIPAA permits the provider to charge a fee.  Does HIPAA override the State law?


    

    

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A State law requires that a health care provider give individuals one free copy of their medical records but HIPAA permits the provider to charge a fee.  Does HIPAA override the State law?








  
  
    

  
      





No, so the health care provider must comply with the State law and provide the one free copy. In contrast to State laws that authorize higher or different fees than are permitted under HIPAA, HIPAA does not override those State laws that provide individuals with greater rights of access to their health information than the HIPAA Privacy Rule does. See 45 CFR 160.202 and 160.203. This includes State laws that: (1) prohibit fees to be charged to provide individuals with copies of their PHI; or (2) allow only lesser fees than what the Privacy Rule would allow to be charged for copies.

                    
  


Content created by Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Content last reviewed June 24, 2016Back to top
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