Colorado's New Medical Record Fee Cap and 30-Day Deadline for Providers
Colorado's HB 26-1414 caps at $400 the total fee a health-care facility or provider can charge when a patient's attorney (or their personal representative's attorney) requests a medical record longer than 664 pages, effective August 12, 2026. Providers must also send an invoice within 30 days of the request, deliver records electronically when asked and feasible, and release the records for free if they blow past the 30-day window without sending a written extension notice.
What this rule requires — at a glance
- Who must comply
- Health-care facilities licensed under C.R.S. § 25-1.5-103 or Title 25, Article 3, and entities regulated under Title 10 that provide health-care services directly or through a managed care plan
- What's required
- Cap total fees for attorney medical-record requests exceeding 664 pages at $400, invoice the requestor within 30 days, deliver records electronically on request when feasible, and give written notice before taking a 30-day extension
- Effective
- August 12, 2026
- Penalty for non-compliance
- The facility must provide the requested records at no cost if it misses the 30-day deadline without sending a written extension notice (absent a qualifying force majeure event)
- Enforcing agency
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (health facility licensing)
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What changed
Colorado already let health-care facilities and providers charge "reasonable fees" for records requested by an attorney with a HIPAA-compliant authorization, subpoena, or court order. HB 26-1414 caps that total charge at $400 whenever the requested record exceeds 664 pages — a facility can still charge more only if the request requires extra work to segregate, withhold, or redact protected information under other law. Starting January 1, 2028, and every even-numbered year after that, the $400 cap adjusts for inflation.
The bill also adds process rules that didn't exist before: the facility must send the requestor a written invoice within 30 days of the request and deliver the records once it's paid; if the facility can't meet that 30-day window, it must send written notice of a 30-day extension before the deadline passes. Miss both the deadline and the extension notice, and the facility must hand over the records at no charge — unless a genuine force-majeure event caused the delay, in which case the facility has 5 business days after the event to notify the requestor. Records must also go out in electronic format if the requestor asks for it, the originals are stored electronically, and producing them that way is feasible.
Who is affected
Any Colorado health-care facility licensed under § 25-1.5-103 or Title 25, Article 3 (hospitals, clinics, and similar licensed facilities), plus Title 10-regulated entities that provide health-care services directly or through a managed care plan, is covered. The trigger is a record request from a patient's attorney, or the attorney of a patient's personal representative, made with a HIPAA-compliant authorization, a valid subpoena, or a valid court order — for records over 664 pages.
Billing and health-information-management staff are where this lands hardest: your fee schedule for these attorney requests needs a hard $400 ceiling (absent extra redaction work), your workflow needs a 30-day invoice deadline, and your process needs a written-extension step before day 30 rather than after. Providers using outside record-retrieval vendors should confirm the vendor's fee schedule and turnaround match the new caps and deadlines, since the statute doesn't shift liability to the vendor.
How to comply, step by step
- Update your fee schedule so any record request from a patient's attorney (or their representative's attorney) exceeding 664 pages is capped at $400 total, unless extra segregation, withholding, or redaction work justifies a higher reasonable fee.
- Send the requestor a written invoice within 30 days of receiving the request.
- If you can't meet the 30-day deadline, send written notice of a 30-day extension before that deadline lapses.
- Deliver records electronically when the requestor asks for that format, your originals are electronic, and production in that format is feasible.
- Calendar the January 1, 2028 (and future even-year) inflation adjustments to the $400 cap.
Frequently asked questions
How much can a Colorado health-care provider charge for a medical record request?
For a request from a patient's attorney (or their personal representative's attorney) that exceeds 664 pages, the total fee is capped at $400 starting August 12, 2026. The facility may charge a reasonable fee above that cap only if fulfilling the request requires extra work to segregate, withhold, or redact protected health information.
What happens if my practice misses the 30-day deadline to respond?
You must provide the records at no cost, unless you sent written notice of a 30-day extension before the original deadline passed, or the delay was caused by a genuine force-majeure event (in which case you have 5 business days after the event to notify the requestor).
Does the $400 cap apply to every medical record request?
No — it applies specifically to requests from a patient's attorney or a personal representative's attorney, made under a HIPAA-compliant authorization, valid subpoena, or valid court order, for records exceeding 664 pages. Other types of record requests are governed by the law's existing "reasonable fee" standard.
When does this law take effect?
August 12, 2026 — ninety days after the general assembly's final adjournment — unless a referendum petition against it is filed within that window, which could push the effective date to a November 2026 statewide vote.
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