Getting medical records can be time-consuming and expensive for everyone. But few lawyers (and fewer medical providers) know that federal law now limits how much a provider can charge for records. And, in nearly every case, it is $6.50.In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly known as HIPAA, required that medical providers could only charge the actual cost of copying the records and responding to the request, but no other fees. Still, HIPAA left a loophole. That law allowed the medical …