Advance health care directive registry.

Existing law directs the Secretary of State to establish an Advance Health Care Directive Registry to receive and release specified information from a person who has executed a written advance health care directive. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to charge a fee to each registrant in an amount such that, when all fees charged to registrants are aggregated, the aggregated fees do not exceed the actual cost of establishing and maintaining the registry. Existing law provides that failure to register with the Secretary of State does not affect the validity of an advance health care directive. This bill would require the Secretary of State to transfer the contents of its Advance Health Care Directive's Registry to the State Department of Public Health on January 1, 2016. The bill would require the department to maintain a health care decision registry, to be referred to as the California Health Care Decisions Online Registry, and commencing on January 1, 2016, to establish and maintain access, as specified, to a secure portion of the department's Internet Web site that provides an electronic reproduction of an advance health care directive and other specified documents submitted to the registry system. The bill would require this access to include the ability to view the electronic reproduction on the Internet Web site, as well as download, print, and otherwise retrieve a copy of the electronic reproduction. The bill would, among other things, require the department to establish procedures to register, replace, and remove an advance health care directive, as specified. The bill would require that on or before January 1, 2020, the registry be fully supported by fees charged by the State Department of Public Health to each registrant. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to develop and submit to the Legislature a financial sustainability plan, as specified, on or before January 1, 2018.