(a) Effective January 1, 1986, the department shall be the single state agency designated to collect the following health facility or clinic data for use by all state agencies:

(1) Data required by the department pursuant to Section 127285.

(2) Data required in the Medi-Cal cost reports pursuant to § 14170 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(3) Data items formerly required by the California Health Facilities Commission that are listed in Sections 128735 and 128740. Information collected pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 128735 and Sections 128736 and 128737 shall be made available to the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Public Health, and the California Health Benefit Exchange. The departments and the Exchange shall ensure that the patient’s rights to confidentiality shall not be violated in any manner. The departments and the Exchange shall comply with all applicable policies and requirements involving review and oversight by the State Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects.

(b) The department shall consolidate any and all of the reports listed under this section or Sections 128735 and 128740, to the extent feasible, to minimize the reporting burdens on hospitals, provided, however, that the department shall neither add nor delete data items from the Hospital Discharge Abstract Data Record or the quarterly reports without prior authorizing legislation, unless specifically required by federal law or regulation or judicial decision.

(c) The Exchange shall report to the Governor and the Legislature on or before August 1, 2023, on the impacts to the Exchange associated with paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), including the impacts on premium rates for health plans offered through the Exchange. The report shall be submitted in compliance with § 9795 of the Government Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 143, Sec. 198. (AB 133) Effective July 27, 2021.)