Health and care facilities: information sharing.

Senator Arreguín's medical privacy legislation expands California's health information protections to explicitly safeguard patients' immigration status while establishing new protocols for health facilities' interactions with immigration enforcement. The bill modifies the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act to classify immigration status and place of birth as protected medical information, prohibiting their disclosure for immigration enforcement without patient authorization or valid judicial warrant.

The legislation requires healthcare facilities to implement visitor monitoring procedures and designate treatment areas as nonpublic spaces where access cannot be granted for immigration enforcement without a court order. When immigration authorities request facility access or patient information, staff must immediately notify management and direct all such inquiries to designated administrators or legal counsel. Healthcare entities must train personnel on these protocols within 45 days of the law's enactment.

Under the new provisions, healthcare providers, plans, and contractors face misdemeanor charges for unauthorized sharing of immigration status information. The bill maintains existing exemptions for disclosure pursuant to court orders, subpoenas, and other legal proceedings, while specifying that immigration enforcement requests require valid judicial warrants. These protections apply broadly across California's healthcare system, encompassing state-operated facilities, university medical centers, and any entities receiving state funding.