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Session of 2026
HOUSE BILL No. 2683
By Committee on Health and Human Services
Requested by Dodie Wellshear on behalf of the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association
2-4
AN ACT concerning health and healthcare; relating to healthcare records;
allowing fees to be charged by healthcare providers to furnish
healthcare records; providing for the disclosure of a decedent's
healthcare records to certain individuals; amending K.S.A. 65-6836 and
repealing the existing section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 65-6836 is hereby amended to read as follows: 65-
6836. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Health care Healthcare provider" means any person licensed by
the state board of healing arts.
(2) "Authorized representative" means the person designated in
writing by the patient to obtain the health care healthcare records of the
patient or the person otherwise authorized by law to obtain the health care
healthcare records of the patient.
(3) "Authorization" means a written or printed document signed by a
patient or a patient's authorized representative containing:
(A) A description of the health care healthcare records that a health
care healthcare provider is authorized to produce;
(B) the patient's name, address and date of birth;
(C) a designation of the person or entity authorized to obtain copies
of the health care healthcare records;
(D) a date or event upon which the force of the authorization shall
expire, which shall not exceed one year;
(E) if signed by a patient's authorized representative, the authorized
representative's name, address, telephone number and relationship or
capacity to the patient; and
(F) a statement setting forth the right of the person signing the
authorization to revoke it in writing.
(b) Subject to K.S.A. 65-6824, and amendments thereto, except as
otherwise provided herein in this section , copies of health care records
protected health information regarding an individual in a designated
record set pursuant to 45 C.F .R. § 164.524, shall be furnished to a patient,
a patient's authorized representative or any other person or entity
authorized by law to obtain or reproduce such records , in the form and
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format requested, within 30 days of the receipt of the authorization, or the
health care healthcare provider shall notify the patient or the patient's
authorized representative of the reasons why copies are not available.
(c) A health care healthcare provider may withhold copies of health
care records if the health care provider reasonably believes that providing
copies of the requested records will cause substantial harm to the patient or
another person. Health care providers may condition the furnishing of the
patient's health care records to the patient, the patient's authorized
representative or any other person or entity authorized by law to obtain or
reproduce such records, upon the payment of charges not to exceed those
established and updated not less than every two years by rules and
regulations adopted by the state board of healing arts. In establishing such
charges, the board shall consider changes in the all-items consumer price
index published by the United States department of labor. Providers may
charge for the reasonable cost of all duplications of health care record
information which cannot be routinely duplicated on a standard photocopy
machine charge the following fees to furnish a patient's healthcare records
to the patient, the patient's authorized representative or another person or
entity authorized by law to obtain or reproduce such records.
(1) The records shall be furnished electronically upon payment of the
search, retrieval and copying fees set under this section at the time of
request or $188.88, whichever is less, if:
(A) Such person requests healthcare records to be delivered
electronically;
(B) the healthcare provider stores such records in an electronic
health record; and
(C) the healthcare provider is capable of providing the requested
records and affidavit, if requested, in an electronic format.
(d) Healthcare providers may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for
duplications of healthcare records that cannot be furnished electronically
or routinely duplicated on a standard photocopy machine. The following
fees shall be in effect on July 1, 2026, and shall thereafter be increased or
decreased annually pursuant to subsection (g):
(1) Copying in the amount of $.60 per page for the cost of supplies
and labor, plus, if the healthcare provider has contracted for off-site
records storage and management, any additional labor costs outside
storage retrieval, not to exceed $25, as adjusted annually pursuant to
subsection (g);
(2) not more than $25, plus copying in the amount of $.60 per page
for the cost of supplies and labor;
(3) postage, to include packaging and delivery cost; and
(4) certification or notary fee, not to exceed $2.00, if requested.
(c)(e) (1) Any health care healthcare provider, patient, authorized
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representative or any other entity authorized by law to obtain or reproduce
such records may bring a claim or action to enforce the provisions of this
section. The petition shall include an averment that the party bringing the
action has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the other
party concerning the matter in dispute without court action. Upon a
showing that the failure to comply with this section was without just cause
or excuse, the court shall award the costs of the action and order the
records produced without cost or expense to the prevailing party.
(2) The transfer of the patient's record performed in good faith shall
not render the healthcare provider liable to the patient or any other
person for any consequences that resulted or may result from the
disclosure of such patient's record.
(f) A healthcare provider may disclose a deceased patient's
healthcare records or payment records to the executor or administrator of
the deceased person's estate or pursuant to a valid, unrevoked power of
attorney for healthcare that specifically directs that the deceased person's
healthcare records can be released to an agent after death. If an executor,
administrator or agent has not been appointed, the decedent, prior to
death, did not specifically object to the disclosure of such decedent's
healthcare records in writing and such disclosure is not inconsistent with
any prior expressed preference of the deceased that is known to the
healthcare provider, a deceased patient's healthcare records may be
released upon written request of a person who is deemed as the personal
representative of the deceased person under this subsection. Priority shall
be given to the deceased patient's spouse, and the healthcare records shall
be released on the affidavit of the surviving spouse that such person is the
surviving spouse. If there is no surviving spouse, the healthcare records
may be released to the following persons:
(1) The acting trustee of a trust created by the deceased patient either
alone or with the deceased patient's spouse;
(2) an adult child of the deceased patient based on the affidavit that
such person is the adult child of the deceased patient;
(3) a parent of the deceased patient based on the affidavit that such
person is the parent of the deceased patient;
(4) an adult brother or sister of the deceased patient based on the
affidavit that such person is the adult brother or sister of the deceased
patient;
(5) a guardian or conservator of the deceased patient at the time of
the patient's death based on the affidavit that such person is the guardian
or conservator of the deceased patient; or
(6) a guardian ad litem of the deceased's minor child based on the
affidavit that such person is the guardian ad litem of the deceased's minor
child.
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(g) On and after July 1, 2027, the fees listed in subsection (d) shall be
increased or decreased annually on July 1 based on the annual percentage
change in the unadjusted average, annual average inflation rate of the
medical care component of the United States city average consumer price
index for all urban consumers. The current reference base of the index, as
published by the bureau of labor statistics of the United States department
of labor, shall be used as the reference base for the annual adjustment.
For the purposes of this subsection, the annual average inflation rate shall
be based on a 12-month calendar year beginning in January and ending in
December of each preceding calendar year. The secretary of the
department of health and environment shall report the annual adjustment
and the adjusted fees authorized in this subsection in the Kansas register
each year.
(d)(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the state
board of healing arts from adopting and enforcing rules and regulations not
inconsistent with this section or 45 C.F .R. § 164.524 that require licensees
of the board to furnish health care healthcare records to patients or to their
authorized representative. To the extent that the board determines that an
administrative disciplinary remedy is appropriate for violation of such
rules and regulations, that such remedy is separate from and in addition to
the provisions of this section.
(i) The provisions of this act are severable. If any portion of this act
is held by a court to be unconstitutional or invalid, or the application of
any portion of this act to any person or circumstance is held by a court to
be unconstitutional or invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other portions
of this act that can be given effect without the invalid portion or
application, and the applicability of such other portions of this act to any
person or circumstance remains valid and enforceable.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 65-6836 is hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
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