HIPA Law

In New York, section 17 of the Public Health Law (full text below) entitles any patient to a copy of his or her records, but the doctor is authorized to charge the patient a fee up to 75 cents per page. Most doctors release the records at no charge at the patient's request, but if they do request the fee they are entitled to it.

§ 17. Release of medical records. Upon the written request of any
competent patient, parent or guardian of an infant, a guardian appointed
pursuant to article eighty-one of the mental hygiene law, or conservator
of a conservatee, an examining, consulting or treating physician or
hospital must release and deliver, exclusive of personal notes of the
said physician or hospital, copies of all x-rays, medical records and
test records including all laboratory tests regarding that patient to
any other designated physician or hospital provided, however, that such
records concerning the treatment of an infant patient for venereal
disease or the performance of an abortion operation upon such infant
patient shall not be released or in any manner be made available to the
parent or guardian of such infant, and provided, further, that original
mammograms, rather than copies thereof, shall be released and delivered.
Either the physician or hospital incurring the expense of providing
copies of x-rays, medical records and test records including all
laboratory tests pursuant to the provisions of this section may impose a
reasonable charge to be paid by the person requesting the release and
deliverance of such records as reimbursement for such expenses,
provided, however, that the physician or hospital may not impose a
charge for copying an original mammogram when the original has been
released or delivered to any competent patient, parent or guardian of an
infant, a guardian appointed pursuant to article eighty-one of the
mental hygiene law, or a conservator of a conservatee and provided,
further, that any charge for delivering an original mammogram pursuant
to this section shall not exceed the documented costs associated
therewith. However, the reasonable charge for paper copies shall not
exceed seventy-five cents per page. A release of records under this
section shall not be denied solely because of inability to pay.
For the purposes of this section the term "laboratory tests" shall
include but not be limited to tests and examinations administered in
clinical laboratories or blood banks as those terms are defined in
section five hundred seventy-one of this chapter.

The more specific references to New York Law provide some clear basis for the charges by the health care provider.
Similar laws or regulations exist in most states to enable patients the right to access their medical records, but generally at reasonable costs for copying and transmission. Many time when the exchange of your records is for a referral or other recommendation b a physician, or the records are few in number they will not insist on the legal right to charge for this additional service.

Your reference to HIPAA raises some other points worth understanding. The HIPAA statute and regulations set a minimum floor for compliance by heathcare providers who participate in any of the federal healthcare programs (which means most of them). But these regulations as they relate to patient medical records are mainly focused on privacy of your Personally Identifiable Healthcare information. The states are free to implement greater protections or more strict protections. The point is that many healthcare questions may not be answered solely by reference to HIPAA.