If you receive medical care in California, state and federal law give you a specific set of patient rights under California health law: you can see your records within five working days, you can refuse surprise out-of-network charges, you can get emergency treatment regardless of ability to pay, you can direct your end-of-life care in writing, and you can sue for malpractice within tight deadlines up to the 2026 noneconomic damages caps of $470,000 for injury and $650,000 for wrongful death. Each of those rights comes with its own rules, its own clock, and its own place to complain if a provider ignores it.
Getting Your Medical Records
Under Health and Safety Code Section 123110, any adult patient or authorized representative can ask to inspect their records, and the provider must allow that inspection within five working days. If you want copies instead, the provider has 15 days to send them.1California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 123110
Copy fees are capped. A provider cannot charge more than $0.25 per page for paper records, or $0.50 per page for records copied from microfilm, plus reasonable costs for labor, supplies, and postage. The copying fee has to be paid before you receive the copies.
A provider cannot hold your records hostage over an unpaid medical bill. The law separates what you owe for the visit from what you owe for duplication, and it bars withholding records because of an outstanding balance for healthcare services. Willful violations can trigger disciplinary action or a fine of up to $100.1California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 123110
Your Medical Privacy
The California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) prohibits healthcare providers, health plans, and their contractors from sharing your medical information without written authorization. Narrow exceptions cover treatment coordination, legal proceedings, and public health reporting.2California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 56.10 – Disclosure of Medical Information by Providers The CMIA defines “medical information” broadly to include individually identifiable data in both electronic and physical form.
The practical difference from federal HIPAA is what you can do when the rule is broken. The CMIA lets you sue directly for damages when your medical information is improperly disclosed. HIPAA’s framework relies primarily on agency enforcement, which makes a private lawsuit much harder.
Health data you create outside a doctor’s office falls under a different rule. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) applies when businesses like fitness apps, genetic testing services, and health-tracking platforms collect your personal health data. You can request access to that data, demand deletion, and opt out of its sale.3State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Bonta Emphasizes Health Apps Legal Obligation to Protect Reproductive Health Information Enforcement runs through the California Privacy Protection Agency, created when voters approved the California Privacy Rights Act in 2020.4State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. California Consumer Privacy Act
Emergency Room Care Regardless of Insurance
When you walk into a hospital emergency department, the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) protects you regardless of insurance status, ability to pay, or immigration status. EMTALA applies to roughly 98% of U.S. hospitals and requires any hospital with a dedicated emergency department to provide a medical screening examination to anyone who requests one.5National Center for Biotechnology Information. EMTALA and Patient Transfers Staff cannot delay that screening to check your insurance or ask about payment.
If the screening reveals an emergency medical condition, the hospital must stabilize you before discharge or transfer. An emergency condition includes acute symptoms severe enough that the absence of immediate treatment could reasonably be expected to cause serious harm to your health, serious impairment of bodily functions, or serious organ dysfunction. Pregnant patients experiencing contractions are also covered when transfer could threaten the mother or unborn child.5National Center for Biotechnology Information. EMTALA and Patient Transfers
Hospitals that violate EMTALA face fines over $133,000 per violation for facilities with 100 or more beds, and over $66,000 for smaller hospitals. Individual physicians who refuse to treat or stabilize a patient with an emergency condition can also be fined, and repeated violations can lead to exclusion from Medicare.6Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Certification and Compliance for the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act
Surprise Medical Bills
Surprise bills typically appear when you receive care from an out-of-network provider without choosing to, often at an in-network hospital where the anesthesiologist, radiologist, or surgeon turns out to be out-of-network. California’s AB 72 protects patients from balance billing for non-emergency services at in-network facilities, and the federal No Surprises Act, in effect since January 2022, added broader protections nationwide.
If you have group or individual health insurance, you are protected from surprise bills for emergency services from out-of-network providers and from out-of-network charges for supplemental care at in-network facilities. Your cost-sharing is limited to what you would have paid if the provider were in-network.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Surprise Medical Bill and What Should I Know About the No Surprises Act The provider and your health plan settle the rest through a federal independent dispute resolution process that keeps you out of the middle.
If you are uninsured or paying out of pocket, the provider must give you a good-faith cost estimate before treatment. If the final bill exceeds that estimate by $400 or more, you can dispute the charges through a separate resolution process within 120 days of receiving the bill.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Surprise Medical Bill and What Should I Know About the No Surprises Act
One caveat matters. Out-of-network providers may ask you to sign a notice and consent form waiving these protections for certain scheduled non-emergency services. You are not required to sign, and you should not if you had no real choice of provider.
Telehealth Visits
California defines telehealth to include real-time video, phone consultations, and asynchronous store-and-forward transmissions where your data is sent to a provider for later review. Under Business and Professions Code Section 2290.5, the provider must obtain and document your consent before delivering care through telehealth, and the standard of care is identical to an in-person visit.8California Legislative Information. California Code BPC 2290.5 – Telehealth
Payment parity is the law. Assembly Bill 744 requires private health plans and Medi-Cal to reimburse telehealth visits at the same rate as equivalent in-person services for contracts issued, amended, or renewed since January 2021.9California Legislative Information. California Assembly Bill 744 – Health Care Coverage: Telehealth Network restrictions still apply, so confirm the telehealth provider is in-network before the visit.
There is also a boundary worth knowing: a provider in another state generally cannot treat you by telehealth unless they hold a full California license. California does not participate in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.10Medical Board of California. Telehealth
For controlled-substance prescriptions, federal rules normally require an in-person evaluation first. The DEA has extended pandemic-era flexibilities that let practitioners prescribe Schedule II through V controlled medications after a video telehealth encounter without a prior in-person visit, and the extension runs through December 31, 2026.11U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. DEA Extends Telemedicine Flexibilities to Ensure Continued Access to Care Audio-only encounters are more limited and apply mainly to Schedule III through V medications used for opioid use disorder treatment.
Advance Directives and End-of-Life Choices
California’s Health Care Decisions Law lets any adult create an advance healthcare directive setting out treatment wishes if you become unable to communicate. The statutory form under Probate Code Section 4701 has two parts: a power of attorney for healthcare naming someone to make decisions for you, and written instructions covering topics like life-sustaining treatment and pain relief.12California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 4701 You can fill out either part or both.
To be valid, the directive has to be signed and dated, then either witnessed by two qualified people or acknowledged before a notary. Witnesses cannot be your healthcare agent, your healthcare provider, or an employee of your provider. At least one witness must not be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption and must not stand to inherit from your estate.12California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 4701
Patients in skilled nursing facilities have an added requirement: a patient advocate or ombudsman designated by the State Department of Aging must serve as a witness. Hospitals and other Medicare- and Medicaid-participating facilities are required under the federal Patient Self-Determination Act to inform you of your right to create these documents upon admission.
Suing for Medical Malpractice in 2026
Medical malpractice claims are governed by the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), substantially updated by Assembly Bill 35 effective in 2023. The old $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages, unchanged for nearly 50 years, has been replaced with a phased increase.13California Legislative Information. AB-35 Civil Damages: Medical Malpractice
For cases resolved in 2026, the noneconomic damages cap is $470,000 for injury cases and $650,000 for wrongful death cases. The caps rise by $40,000 and $50,000 respectively each January 1 until they reach $750,000 for injury and $1,000,000 for wrongful death in 2034, after which annual inflation adjustments begin. Economic damages such as medical expenses and lost wages are not capped.
To win, you have to show the provider owed you a duty of care, fell below accepted medical standards, and directly caused harm. Expert testimony typically establishes what a competent provider would have done. California follows pure comparative negligence, so a patient partly responsible for their own injury can still recover, with the award reduced by their percentage of fault.14Justia. CACI No. 405 – Comparative Fault of Plaintiff
The Filing Clock
You have whichever is shorter: three years from the date of injury, or one year from the date you discovered (or should have discovered) the injury.15California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 340.5 In practice, most cases must be filed within one year of discovery, and the three-year outer limit applies even if you genuinely did not know about the injury. The only exceptions that extend the three-year cap are fraud, intentional concealment by the provider, or a foreign object left in your body. For children, a minor’s claim must be filed within three years of the alleged wrongful act, but children under six have until their eighth birthday if that gives more time.
When Confidentiality Does Not Apply
California requires healthcare providers to report certain situations to authorities, and these obligations override normal patient confidentiality. Knowing where the exceptions sit helps you understand what will and will not stay between you and your provider.
Mandated reporters including physicians, nurses, and therapists must report any reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect under the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act. The report has to be made by telephone immediately or as soon as practicably possible, with a written report within 36 hours. Failing to report is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.16California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 11166
The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act similarly requires healthcare providers to report suspected physical abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, abandonment, isolation, or abduction of an elderly or dependent adult. In long-term care facilities, most incidents must be reported verbally within two hours, with a written report within 24 hours.17California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 15630
Physicians who treat patients with injuries from assaultive or abusive conduct, including domestic violence, must report those injuries to local law enforcement under Penal Code Sections 11160 through 11163. The report goes to law enforcement rather than a social services agency, and you may decline further involvement with police after the initial report is filed.
California is also where the duty to warn originated, in the 1976 case Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California. Under Civil Code Section 43.92, a psychotherapist is shielded from liability for failing to protect a third party from a patient’s violent behavior, except when the patient has communicated a serious threat of physical violence against a reasonably identifiable victim. In that case, the therapist must make reasonable efforts to notify both the intended victim and a law enforcement agency.18California Legislative Information. California Civil Code CIV 43.92 This exception applies only to psychotherapists, not to healthcare providers generally.
Finally, the California Department of Public Health mandates reporting of certain infectious diseases, including tuberculosis and HIV. Timelines and methods vary by disease, with some requiring same-day reporting.
Where to File a Complaint
Different agencies enforce different pieces of this framework. The Medical Board of California handles complaints against physicians for misconduct, malpractice, or substance abuse. The California Board of Registered Nursing oversees RN complaints.19California Board of Registered Nursing. Assembly Bill 890 The Board of Pharmacy handles pharmacist complaints. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) regulates healthcare facilities and public health laws. The Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) oversees health plans and handles complaints about coverage denials, including disputes tied to surprise billing protections. If a provider refuses to release your records, violates your privacy, denies emergency care, or bills you in violation of the No Surprises Act, the right starting point is the board or department with authority over that provider or plan.