California Assembly Bill AB535 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 535AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ammiano FEBRUARY 25, 2009 An act to add  Section   Sections 1418.92 and  102336 to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 11174.8 of the Penal Code, relating to elder death review teams. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 535, as amended, Ammiano. Elder death review teams: information requests.  This bill would require a long-term health care facility to report the death of a resident of the facility who is 65 years of age or older to the elder death review team of the county in which the death occurred within 24 hours of the death. The bill would make violation of this provision a class "B" violation. Because this bill would create a new crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program.  Existing law allows a county to establish an interagency elder death  review  team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing suspicious elder deaths. Under existing law, the team may request specified information for  their   its  review, subject to prescribed confidentiality requirements. This bill would allow the elder death  review  team to request and obtain copies of certificates of death from the local registrar of births and deaths, subject to any fee requirements. Under existing law, deaths are required to be registered with the local registrar of births and deaths in the district in which the death occurs. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to enforce the laws pertaining to vital records, including certificates of death. Existing law requires the department to implement an Internet-based electronic death registration system. This bill would  require the registrar of births and deaths in a county that elects   authorize the chair, cochair, or an agent of the chair or cochair, of a county elder death team to participate in the Internet-based electronic death registration system to  provide   access  specified information  to the chair, cochair, or the agent of the chair or cochair upon request of a county death review team  .  Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses and regulates health facilities, including long-term health care facilities. The Long-Term Care, Health, Safety, and Security Act of 1973 imposes various requirements on long-term health facilities. Violation of these provisions is punishable through administrative penalties. Willful obstruction of the enforcement of the provisions is a misdemeanor.   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.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  no   yes  . THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 1418.92 is added to the   Health and Safety Code   , to read:   1418.92. (a) A long-term health care facility shall report the death of a resident of the facility who is 65 years of age or older to the elder death review team of the county in which the death occurred. (b) The report required by subdivision (a) shall be made within 24 hours of the death of the resident and shall contain all of the following information: (1) Place of death. (2) Time of death. (3) Gender of decedent. (c) Failure to comply with this section shall constitute a class "B" violation.   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.  Section 102336 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 102336. Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 11174.8 of the Penal Code,  upon request, a local registrar of births and deaths in a county that elects to   the chair, cochair, or an agent of the chair or cochair may  participate in the Internet-based electronic death registration system established pursuant to Section  102778 shall provide, from information obtained from the death certificates, to the chair, cochair, or any agent of the chair or cochair of a county elder death review team established pursuant to Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 1174.4) of Title 1 of Part 4 of the Penal Code access to Internet-based electronic death data to obtain all of the following information, sorted by any one of the factors:   102778. Access to the Internet-based electronic death data shall be exclusively for the purpose of obtaining the following information:  (a) Place of death. (b) Name, last name followed by first name. (c) Date of death. (d) Cause of death.  SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.  Section 11174.8 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 11174.8. (a) Each organization represented on an elder death review team may share with other members of the team information in its possession concerning the decedent who is the subject of the review or any person who was in contact with the decedent and any other information deemed by the organization to be pertinent to the review. Any information shared by an organization with other members of a team is confidential. The intent of this subdivision is to permit the disclosure to members of the team of any information deemed confidential, privileged, or prohibited from disclosure by any other provision of law. (b) (1) Written and oral information may be disclosed to an elder death review team established pursuant to this section. The team may make a request in writing for the information sought and any person with information of the kind described in paragraph (3) may rely on the request in determining whether information may be disclosed to the team. (2) No individual or agency that has information governed by this subdivision shall be required to disclose information. The intent of this subdivision is to allow the voluntary disclosure of information by the individual or agency that has the information. (3) The following information may be disclosed pursuant to this subdivision: (A) Notwithstanding Section 56.10 of the Civil Code, medical information. (B) Notwithstanding Section 5328 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, mental health information. (C) Notwithstanding Section 15633.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, information from elder abuse reports and investigations, except the identity of persons who have made reports, which shall not be disclosed. (D) State summary criminal history information, criminal offender record information, and local summary criminal history information, as defined in Sections 11075, 11105, and 13300. (E) Notwithstanding Section 11163.2, information pertaining to reports by health practitioners of persons suffering from physical injuries inflicted by means of a firearm or of persons suffering physical injury where the injury is a result of assaultive or abusive conduct. (F) Information provided to probation officers in the course of the performance of their duties, including, but not limited to, the duty to prepare reports pursuant to Section 1203.10, as well as the information on which these reports are based. (G) Notwithstanding Section 10825 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, records relating to in-home supportive services, unless disclosure is prohibited by federal law. (H) Electronic  copies of   data from  certificates of death from the local registrar of births and deaths, subject to any fee requirements. (c) Written and oral information may be disclosed under this section notwithstanding Sections 2263, 2918, 4982, and 6068 of the Business and Professions Code, the lawyer-client privilege protected by Article 3 (commencing with Section 950) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code, the physician-patient privilege protected by Article 6 (commencing with Section 990) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code, and the psychotherapist-patient privilege protected by Article 7 (commencing with Section 1010) of Chapter 4 of Division 8 of the Evidence Code.  SEC. 4.   No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.