The executive director of the Consumer Federation of California says a compromise worked out at a Tuesday Senate committee hearing is sufficient for the organization to take a “neutral” stance on the bill, reports Modern Healthcare. The compromise would restore “judicial discretion in levying fines even in cases where an entity meets all of the statutory affirmative defenses” in California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. The contested amendment would have given providers “affirmative defenses” against civil suits, such as proof they had taken steps to avoid future breaches, but that met resistance from eight groups claiming the amendment would “immunize healthcare corporations” from civil suits after a breach. (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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