Electronic Protected Health Information of Minor: Disclosure to Legal Guardian
Iowa Minor ePHI Guardian Access Law
Health · Children
This 2024 law requires Iowa health care providers and facilities to give a minor's legal guardian access to the minor's electronic health information, or a free printed copy instead. It does not cover care the minor may legally consent to alone, or disclosures barred by other state or federal law.
- Where
- Iowa
- Citation
- Iowa Code 135.194
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 2024-07-01
- Enforced by
- Not specified in the section
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- The section contains no penalty or enforcement provision.
- Applies to
- Health care providers (licensed physicians, PAs, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and others) and health care facilities that maintain or transmit electronic protected health information (135.194(1), (3))
Rights it gives people
- Disclose a minor's electronic protected health information to the minor's legal guardian, except for care the minor may consent to without a guardian and information whose disclosure other state or federal law prohibits.Iowa Code 135.194(1)
- A provider may instead give the guardian a printed copy of the information, at no charge.Iowa Code 135.194(2)
Sources
- Official text
- Iowa Code 135.194 (Iowa Code 2026, Iowa Legislature)
- 2024 Iowa Acts ch. 1130 (SF 477), Division II, approved May 3, 2024 (the January 1, 2025 effective-date clause applies only to Division I)
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: A later 2024 technical amendment (2024 Acts ch. 1154, s. 12) was not reviewed.
Research reference, not legal advice.