S-1050.3  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5028

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Senators Franklin and Regala)

READ FIRST TIME 03/05/2001.

Establishing the legal presumption of reasonable value from the certification of health care records.

    AN ACT Relating to the legal presumption from certification of medical records; and amending RCW 70.02.070.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 70.02.070 and 1995 c 292 s 20 are each amended to read as follows:

    Upon the request of the person requesting the record, the health care provider or facility shall certify the record furnished and may charge for such certification in accordance with RCW 36.18.016(5).  No record need be certified until the fee is paid.  The certification shall be affixed to the record and disclose:

    (1) The identity of the patient;

    (2) The kind of health care information involved;

    (3) The identity of the person to whom the information is being furnished;

    (4) The identity of the health care provider or facility furnishing the information;

    (5) The number of pages of the health care information;

    (6) The date on which the health care information is furnished; and

    (7) That the certification is to fulfill and meet the requirements of this section.

In a court of law, health care providers' billing statements certified under this section for treatment provided to a patient are presumed to be the reasonable value of health care treatment and are admissible in evidence to establish the charges are usual and customary charges in the community.  The presumption that the charges are reasonable and customary may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence.  The presumption does not shift the burden of proof that the medical treatment was for medical conditions proximately caused by another's fault.

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