Cost of Medical Records Rises For Negligence Victims
The cost of obtaining medical records for personal injury victims recently rose 3.16% from last year. The new rate for copying medical records will be $20.65 plus $0.49 per page for the cost of supplies and labor. Section 191.227, RSMo sets the base rate for fees for copying medical records at $17.05 and $0.40 per page for the cost of supplies and labor. This section also provides that effective February 1st of each year, the fees shall be increased or decreased annually based on the annual percentage change in the unadjusted, U.S. city average, annual average inflation rate of the medical care component of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The section further provides that the current reference base of the index, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, shall be used as the reference base.
I find it interesting that health care providers get a cost of living adjustment from patients paying for their own medical records. When a patient is injured due to negligence there is no corresponding cost of living adjustment for the same patient under our current unconstitutional non-economic damage cap of $350,000 in Missouri. I guess if personal injury victims could afford to pay lobbyists to work on their behalf in Jefferson City they would get an annual cost of living adjustment too.
