California expands protections for records and testimony involving protected health care
Sep 27, 2026 edition · GC-2026-0125 · Published 2026-09-27 · Version 2 · Final
AB 1930 adds Attorney General notice before specified protected-care records production, with federal timing and other express exceptions.
What happened
The Governor signed AB 1930 on September 26, adding Civil Code 1798.309 for covered persons or entities located, headquartered, incorporated or conducting business in California. From the law’s January 1, 2027 commencement, a covered recipient of a subpoena, discovery request or other legal-process information request concerning an investigation of legally protected abortion or gender-affirming care generally must notify the Attorney General at least seven business days before producing records. Notice includes the request, with permitted redaction of identifying or confidential information. The duty concerns specified investigations and protected activities, rather than every request containing health information.
The text exempts requests ordered by a competent court, issued by a California state or local agency, accompanied by a qualifying nonprohibited-use attestation, or containing protected-care information merely incidental to the investigation. A shorter federal legal or other federal obligation, expressly including a contract, grant or Medicare participation condition, changes the advance-notice timing to no later than production. The Attorney General may intervene in a protective civil action and enforce the section; false attestations and specified knowing or reckless violations carry distinct penalties. Records teams need counsel to apply those boundaries and other disclosure law, not a blanket rule to block all subpoenas or warrants.
Scope and timing
- Authority status
- Final
- Applicability
- Directly applicable
- Audience
- Health systems, Provider networks
- Jurisdiction
- California
- Recorded date
- 2027-01-01
- Date type
- effective
Why it matters
A response can depend on the request’s purpose, source, attestation and federal deadline, so legal review must precede routine records release.
Recommended action
Prepare a January 1, 2027 triage procedure with Legal and Privacy that identifies covered requests, exceptions, attestation reliance and federal timing, preserves notices and applies other disclosure protections.
Sources
- AB 1930, bill historyOfficial · California Legislature · 2026-09-26 · Source review 2026-09-27
- Official retained source documentOfficial · Official issuing agency · Source review 2026-10-16
- Official retained source documentOfficial · Official issuing agency · Source review 2026-10-16
- Official retained source documentOfficial · Official issuing agency · Source review 2026-10-16
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