MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2007 Regular Session

To: Judiciary, Division A

By: Senator(s) White

Senate Bill 2870

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 11-1-52, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE LIMITATIONS ON CHARGES PERMITTED FOR PHOTOCOPYING PATIENT RECORDS AND CLARIFY THE LIMITATIONS ON CHARGES FOR DEPOSITIONS AND AFFIDAVITS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  Section 11-1-52, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     11-1-52.  (1)  Any medical provider or hospital or nursing home or other medical facility, pharmacist or pharmacy shall charge no more than the following amounts to patients or their representatives for photocopying any patient's records:  Twenty Dollars ($20.00) for pages one (1) through twenty (20); One Dollar ($1.00) per page for the next eighty (80) pages; Fifty Cents (50¢) per page for all pages thereafter.  Ten percent (10%) of the total charge may be added for postage and handling.  Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) may be recovered by the medical provider or hospital or nursing home or other medical facility for retrieving medical records in archives at a location off the premises where the facility/office is located.

     (2)  A physician shall only charge normal, reasonable and customary charges for a deposition related to a patient that the physician is treating or has treated:  no more than Three Hundred Fifty Dollars ($350.00) for the first hour, and One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) for each quarter-hour or portion thereof thereafter; for depositions upon written questions, no more than Fifty Dollars ($50.00).

     (3)  Any medical provider, hospital, nursing home or other medical facility, pharmacist or pharmacy shall charge no more than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) for executing a medical record affidavit, when the affidavit is requested by the patient or the patient's representative.

     (4)  In charging the fees authorized under subsection (1) of this section, the medical provider, hospital, nursing home or other medical facility, pharmacist or pharmacy shall comply with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

     SECTION 2.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2007.