Existing law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), requires the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a process for the annual review of unreasonable increases in premiums for health insurance coverage in which health insurance issuers submit to the secretary and the relevant state, a justification for an unreasonable premium increase prior to implementation of the increase. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. For large group plan contracts and policies, existing law requires a plan or insurer to file rate information with the appropriate department at least 60 days prior to implementing an unreasonable rate increase, as defined in PPACA. Existing law requires the plan or insurer to also disclose specified aggregate data with that rate filing.

This bill would require a health care service plan or health insurer to annually provide deidentified claims data at no charge to a large group purchaser that requests the information and meets specified conditions. The bill would specify that all disclosures of data to the large group purchaser made pursuant to these provisions is required to comply with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, and the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act or the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Act, as specified. The bill would prohibit a health care service plan or a health insurer from disclosing the contracted rates between the health care service plan or health insurer and a provider to a large group purchaser. This bill would specify that additional aggregate claims data disclosed to a large group purchaser by a health care service plan or health insurer is confidential and is prohibited from being made public by the department and exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act.

Existing law prohibits, with exceptions, a health care service plan or health insurer from releasing any information to an employer that would directly or indirectly indicate to the employer that an employee is receiving or has received services from a health care provider covered by the plan unless authorized to do so by the employee.

This bill would exempt from the prohibition the release of relevant information for the purposes set forth in these provisions regarding a plan’s or insurer’s annual disclosure of deidentified claims data to a large group purchaser.

Because a willful violation of the bill’s requirements by a health care services plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.