GSBE Business Update 06/01/2019
AB 25, as amended, Chau. California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018
Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, beginning January 1, 2020, grants consumers various rights with regard to their personal information held by businesses, including the right to request a business to disclose specific pieces of personal information it has collected and to have information held by that business deleted, as specified. Existing law imposes certain responsibilities on the Attorney General in connection with the act, including the creation of regulations and providing guidance on how to comply with the act. Existing law defines “consumer” as a natural person who is a California resident, as defined in a specific regulation, however identified, including by any unique identifier.
This bill would exclude from the definition of “consumer” a natural person whose personal information has been collected by a business in the course of a person acting as a job applicant to, an employee of, a contractor of, or an agent on behalf of, the business, to the extent the person’s personal information is collected and used solely for purposes compatible with the context of that person’s role as a job applicant, employee, contractor, or agent of the business. The bill would also define “contractor” for purposes of that provision.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to clarify how a business shall comply with a consumer’s request for specific pieces of information in a privacy protective manner.
AB 731, as amended, Kalra. Health care coverage: rate review
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 provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan or health insurer offering a contract or policy in the individual or small group market to file specified information, including total earned premiums and total incurred claims for each contract or policy form, with the appropriate department at least 120 days before implementing a rate change.
This bill would expand those requirements to apply to large group health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies, and would impose additional rate filing requirements on large group contracts and policies. The bill would require a plan or insurer to disclose with a rate filing specified information by geographic region, including annual medical trend factor assumptions by aggregate benefit category and the top 25 procedures in each benefit category. The bill would require a health care service plan that fails to file specified information to disclose other information by market and by geographic region. If a plan or insurer fails to provide all the information required, the bill would specify that the filing is an unjustified rate. The bill would authorize a large group contract holder to apply to the Department of Managed Health Care or Department of Insurance, as appropriate, to review a rate change and determine if it is reasonable or justified, and would require the appropriate department to complete the review within 60 days of receiving the application. The bill would also eliminate confidentiality protections for contracted rates between a health care service plan and a large group. Because a willful violation of the bill’s requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.