BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 514
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 514
(Anderson) - As Amended January 26, 2016
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|Policy |Health |Vote:|15 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
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| |Privacy and Consumer | |11 - 0 |
| |Protection | | |
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|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
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Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill prohibits Covered California (CoveredCA) from
disclosing personal information obtained from an application for
health care coverage to a certified insurance agent or certified
SB 514
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enrollment counselor without the consent of the applicant,
unless the agent or counselor is assisting the applicant.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Negligible fiscal impact. CoveredCA is currently compliant with
this bill, and the bill does not appear to impact CoveredCA's
business practices.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill is intended to protect consumers applying
for health coverage through Covered California from being
contacted by an insurance agent or certified enrollment
counselor for assistance with their application without their
consent. SB 514 is author-sponsored and supported by
insurance industry groups.
2)Background. CoveredCA is a state-run health insurance
marketplace where Californians can purchase health care and
enroll in health care affordability programs. In 2013,
concerns were expressed about actions by CoveredCA to release
identifying information to certified insurance agents about
individuals with pending applications, in order to allow
outreach to assist potential applicants in completing their
applications for health coverage. Although CoveredCA
maintained the outreach program complied with privacy laws,
negative feedback from consumers about perceived privacy
violations led CoveredCA to discontinue the data-sharing
practice. CoveredCA currently does not share information with
external agents. In the future, if the choice was made to
begin such data-sharing, this bill would limit such
data-sharing to circumstances in which the applicant consented
to such sharing.
SB 514
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3)Prior legislation. There were several bills addressing the
disclosure of personal information by CoveredCA that failed in
various Assembly committees in 2014.
AB 1602 (John A. Pérez), Chapter 655, Statutes of 2010, and SB
900 (Alquist), Chapter 659, Statutes of 2010, established
CoveredCA and its powers and duties.
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)
319-2081