Wellness programs.

(1) Existing federal law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) , enacted various health care coverage market reforms that took effect January 1, 2014. Among other things, PPACA sets forth various requirements related to wellness programs, which encompass programs of health promotion or disease prevention. 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 (department) and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of various insurers by the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner. This bill would prohibit health care service plans and insurers from sharing any personal information or data collected through a wellness program, except as specified, and would prohibit health care service plans or insurers from taking any adverse action, as defined, against an enrollee or member, or insured (individual) , if the action of the health care service plans or insurers is in response to an individual's election to not participate in a wellness program. The bill would establish and impose upon health care service plans and insurers various requirements related to a wellness program, such as requiring a health care service plan or insurer to post a written explanation that is reasonably likely to be understood by an individual on its internet website concerning its policies and practices pertaining to wellness programs, as specified. The bill would require a health care service plan or insurer, for purposes of administering and operating a wellness program, to limit its collection, dissemination, retention, and use of any personal information of an individual to only information that is reasonably necessary to operate a wellness program, except as specified, and would extend various requirements, to the extent that they are applicable, to any entity that the health care service plan or insurer contracts with for purposes of administering or operating a wellness program on their behalf. The bill would authorize the commissioner to assess penalties on an insurer for any violation of these provisions, as specified. Because a willful violation of these requirements relative to health care service plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, headed by the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations, for the purpose of enforcing labor laws, including those relating to employer retaliation. This bill would, among other things, prohibit an employer from requiring an employee to participate in a wellness program as a condition of employment and from taking any adverse action, as defined, against an employee if the action is in response to an employee's election to not participate in a wellness program. The bill would establish and impose upon an employer various requirements related to a wellness program, such as requiring an employer to post a written explanation that is reasonably likely to be understood by an employee on its internet website concerning its policies and practices pertaining to a wellness program. The bill would require an employer, for purposes of administering and operating a wellness program, to limit its collection, dissemination, retention, and use of any personal information of an employee to only information that is reasonably necessary for the program's operation, except as specified, and would extend various requirements, to the extent that they are applicable, to any entity that the employer contracts with for purposes of administering or operating a wellness program on their behalf. The bill would grant an employee various rights in relation to a wellness program, such as obtaining a copy of the employee's records, including personal information that has been collected by the employer as part of a wellness program. The bill would make a violation of these requirements an infraction, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. (3) 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.