(a) An insurer shall pay a provider for duplicating all information it requests in connection with a contested claim, and for patient records, as follows:
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the insurer shall pay the provider for copying twenty-five cents ($0.25) per page, or fifty cents ($0.50) per page for records that are copied from microfilm.
(2) The insurer shall pay the provider all reasonable costs, not exceeding actual costs, incurred by the provider in providing the insurer copies of X-rays, or tracings derived from electrocardiography, electroencephalography, or electromyography.
(b) No insurer subject to this section shall request information that is not reasonably necessary to determine liability for payment of a claim.
(c) The obligation of the insurer to comply with this section shall not be deemed to be waived when the insurer requires its contracting entities to pay claims for covered services.
(d) This section shall not apply to contractual arrangements between an insurer and its agent, an insurer and a provider, or a provider and its agent for the costs associated with the provision of duplication services.
(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 844, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2001.)