Amended in Assembly March 18, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2174

Introduced by Assembly Member Jones

February 18, 2016

An act to begin delete amend Section 130301 of end delete begin insert add Section 103876 to end insert the Health and Safety Code, relating to health care.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2174, as amended, Jones. begin delete Health care. end delete begin insert Ken Maddy California Cancer Registry. end insert

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Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to establish a statewide system for the collection of information determining the incidence of cancer known as the Ken Maddy California Cancer Registry. Existing law authorizes the department to designate any demographic parts of the state as regional cancer incidence reporting areas and establish regional cancer registries to provide cancer incidence data. Under existing law, all cancers diagnosed or treated in the reported area are required to be reported to the department or the authorized representative of the department. Existing regulations require cancer reporting facilities and physicians to employ a mechanism to ensure that their patients are informed that the facility will report each patient with cancer to the State Department of Public Health as required by law.

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Under existing law, health care practitioners, including, among others, physicians and surgeons, and any hospital or other facility providing diagnostic or treatment services to patients with cancer are required to grant to the department or the authorized representative access to all records that would identify cases of cancer or would establish characteristics of the cancer, treatment of the cancer, or medical status of any identified cancer patient. All information collected pursuant to those provisions is generally required to be kept confidential. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into agreements to furnish confidential information to specified persons and entities, including other states’ cancer registries, local health officers, and health researchers.

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This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to ensure a patient whose name appears on the Ken Maddy California Cancer Registry has received specified notice including, among other things, that the department is authorized to release confidential patient information to health researchers, prior to any researcher contacting the patient.

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Existing law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Implementation Act of 2001, establishes the Office of Health Information Integrity within the California Health and Human Services Agency, which is responsible for implementing the provisions of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Existing law makes various findings and declarations about HIPAA.

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This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those provisions.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 103876 is added to the end insert begin insert Health and Safety
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 103876. end insert   

(a) Prior to any researcher contacting a person whose
name appears on the Ken Maddy California Cancer Registry, for
any purpose, the department shall ensure that the person to be
contacted has received notice of the following information:

(1) A description of the cancer registry, as provided in
subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 103885.

(2) An explanation of how the department obtains all records
that would identify cases of cancer and the type of information
collected by the department, as described in subdivision (f) of
Section 103885.

(3) The purpose for which the information obtained by the
department is collected and intended to be used, as described in
subdivision (g) of Section 103885.

(4) The authority of the department to release confidential
patient information to any person with a valid scientific interest,
other states’ cancer registries, federal cancer control agencies,
local health officers, or health researchers, pursuant to subdivision
(g) of Section 103885.

(5) The discretion of a patient to refuse to participate in any
research study and to request that his or her contact information
be withheld.

(6) The benefits of participating in cancer research, including,
but not limited to, the opportunity to contribute to the discovery
of improved treatments and survival rates for cancer patients.

(b) (1) All notifications to the patient required pursuant to this
section shall be distributed in a cost-effective manner, including,
but not limited to, by email.

(2) All notifications pursuant to this section shall be at no cost
to the person receiving them.

(c) The department shall adopt regulations as it determines are
necessary for the implementation of this section in accordance
with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code).

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SECTION 1.  

Section 130301 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

130301.  

The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (Public Law 104-191), known as HIPAA, was enacted on
August 21, 1996.

(b) HIPAA extends health coverage benefits to workers after
they terminate or change employment by allowing the worker to
participate in existing group coverage plans, thereby avoiding the
additional expense associated with obtaining individual coverage
as well as the potential loss of coverage because of a preexisting
health condition.

(c) Administrative simplification is a key feature of HIPAA,
requiring standard national identifiers for providers, employers,
and health plans and the development of uniform standards for the
coding and transmission of claims and health care information.
Administration simplification is intended to promote the use of
information technology, thereby reducing costs and increasing
efficiency in the health care industry.

(d) HIPAA also contains new standards for safeguarding the
privacy and security of health information. Therefore, the
development of policies for safeguarding the privacy and security
of health records is a fundamental and indispensable part of HIPAA
implementation that must accompany or precede the expansion or
standardization of technology for recording or transmitting health
information.

(e) The federal Department of Health and Human Services has
published, and continues to publish, rules pertaining to the
implementation of HIPAA. Following a 60-day congressional
concurrence period, health providers and insurers have 24 months
in which to implement these rules.

(f) These federal rules directly apply to state and county
departments that provide health coverage, health care, mental
health services, and alcohol and drug treatment programs. Other
state and county departments are also subject to these rules to the
extent they use or exchange information with the departments to
which the federal rules directly apply.

(g) In view of the substantial changes that HIPAA will require
in the practices of both private and public health entities and their
business associates, the ability of California government to
continue the delivery of vital health services will depend upon the
implementation of HIPAA in a manner that is coordinated among
state departments as well as our partners in county government
and the private health sector.

(h) The implementation of HIPAA shall be accomplished as
required by federal law and regulations and shall be a priority for
state departments.

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