Libbie Canter, Rebecca Yergin & Olivia Vega of Covington & Burling write:
Legislation that would amend California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (“CMIA”) is working its way through California’s Senate and passed in the Senate Health Committee earlier this week. The proposed bill passed in the state’s Assembly back in April. Introduced by Democratic California Assemblymember Edwin Chau, who sits on the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, the proposed legislation (AB 1436) expands the definition of “provider of health care.” Under the CMIA, providers of health care are subject to various obligations, including provisions that restrict the disclosure of medical information without a prior valid authorization, subject to certain exceptions.
The CMIA already applies to a broader universe of entities than the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, and its implementing regulations (collectively, “HIPAA”).
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