My complaint is probably small in the grand scheme of things. I am a plaintiff in a civil injury lawsuit. The other side (the defense) subpoenaed copies of my medical records, and I requested copies. I just received the estimate of costs to obtain copies. One set of records is 70 pages long, for which Second National wants me to pay over $150. They charge 10 cents per page for pagination, but the fee also includes a "hard copy" charge of 55 cents per page, plus packaging fee of $17.
I called to ask if the fee would be reduced if I got an electronic copy. The per page fee went down to 50 cents per page, but they would charge me $25 to access the copy online. Yes, that's right — if I wanted to be environmentally sound and reduce the amount of paper and fossil fuels used to deliver a copy to me — I have to end up paying even more for the records, when all they have to do is scan the document and e-mail it. Less work for them = more cost to me.
This isn't the end of the additional charges to obtain each set of records. They charge $52 as a "basic fee, " then a $15 charting fee, then a $15 processing fee. Right out of the gate for any set of records, they rack up charges of $72, per set of records.
Another set of records - a total of 6 pages - will cost me nearly $100 to obtain. If I get an electronic copy, I'll save 30 cents on the copying charge, but have to pay $9 more for on-line access of the records. Absolutely incredible.
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