General Laws Information

DHCS is governed by several State and Federal laws and regulations regarding sharing data with external researchers or with public health authorities. These laws limit the sharing of data for research to the University of California or other non-profit educational institutions and to a public health authority where the data is necessary for it to perform its constitutional or statutory duties (as described by the California Information Practices Act).  The quantity of data shared must be the minimum necessary to conduct the research (as described by the California Information Practices Act and the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). In addition, as established by the Federal Social Security Act, use of  Medicaid data must be directly related to administration of the Medicaid Program, which is Medi-Cal in California.  The specific laws are excerpted below and the links are provided to the full on-line texts.  

Click here for more information on Federal and State Laws.