Midwifery: workforce data: availability to be a clinical preceptorship.

New Section 4 creates a conditional operative mechanism: Sections 1.5 and 2.5 (which incorporate AB 1811 amendments) become operative only if both bills are enacted by January 1, 2027, SB 1271 amends/repeals/adds Section 502 while AB 1811 amends it, and SB 1271 is enacted after AB 1811. In that case, Sections 1 and 2 of SB 1271 do not become operative.

In the AB 1811 incorporated version, workforce data collection timing expands from 'at least biennially' to 'at the time the license or registration is issued and at least biennially thereafter,' meaning boards must collect data when a new license is first issued, not just at renewal.

In the AB 1811 incorporated version, the frequency at which boards must provide individual data to the Department of Health Care Access and Information changes from quarterly to monthly in subdivision (e).

A transition exception is added for the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board: it is not required to request workforce data at license issuance until July 1, 2027, after which it must do so.

The list of minimum data fields expands from 14 to 19 items in the AB 1811 incorporated version. New fields include: hours worked in inpatient care, hours worked in outpatient care, hours worked providing direct outpatient primary care services, whether the licensee accepts Medicaid, and whether the licensee offers a formal sliding fee scale. The 'area of practice' field is also expanded to require both primary and secondary areas.

The legislative report deadline is standardized to June 30, 2029 (removing the earlier January 1, 2029 date that appeared as an alternative in the prior version).

New subdivision (i) makes the midwifery-specific data collection provisions inoperative on June 30, 2029 and repealed as of January 1, 2030, creating a two-year sunset for the midwifery preceptorship data requirements.

The deadline for the Department of Health Care Access and Information to submit its report to the Legislature was changed from January 1, 2029 to June 30, 2029, giving the department an additional six months to complete its analysis.

A new Section 502 is added to the Business and Professions Code containing the general healthcare workforce data collection framework (subdivisions a through h), operative as of June 30, 2029. This ensures the broader workforce data infrastructure continues after the midwifery-specific provisions sunset.

The bill's operative description changed from 'an act to amend Section 502' to 'an act to amend, repeal, and add Section 502,' reflecting the new structural approach of sunsetting midwifery provisions while simultaneously adding a replacement general section.

A new deadline of April 1, 2027 was inserted in subdivision (h)(1), requiring the Medical Board of California to request preceptorship eligibility and availability data from licensed midwives by that date. Previously the text had no specific start date for this data collection.

The deadline for the Department of Health Care Access and Information to submit its workforce report to the Legislature was changed from January 1, 2028 to January 1, 2029, giving the department an additional year to analyze the data before reporting.

Assembly Member Bonta was added as a coauthor of the bill.

The entire provision amending Section 1418.8 of the Health and Safety Code regarding technical changes to the Long-Term Care Patient Representative Program was removed from the bill. This eliminated all requirements related to patient representatives, interdisciplinary team reviews, and notices to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.

The deadline for the Department of Health Care Access and Information to submit its workforce data report to the Legislature was extended from January 1, 2028 to January 1, 2029, giving the department an additional year to complete its analysis.

Senators Caballero and Wahab were added as coauthors of the bill.

The fiscal committee vote was changed from no to yes, indicating a fiscal impact determination was made for the midwifery data collection provisions.

The bill now also amends Section 502 of the Business and Professions Code (healing arts), expanding its scope beyond just health and care facilities to include workforce data collection for licensed midwives.

The Medical Board of California must request specific information from licensed midwives about their eligibility and availability to serve as clinical preceptors for student midwives, including whether they meet minimum requirements, their anticipated availability within two years, practice settings (home births, birth centers, hospital-based, rural, federally qualified health centers), maximum number of students they can supervise concurrently, and counties where they would be available.

The Medical Board must quarterly provide individual midwife data to the Department of Health Care Access and Information for statewide midwifery workforce planning, analysis, and public reporting.

The Department of Health Care Access and Information must submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2028, detailing its findings based on the collected midwifery workforce data.

Licensed midwives are not required to provide the requested information as a condition for license renewal and cannot be subject to discipline for not providing it.

New confidentiality requirements: both the Medical Board and HCAI must maintain confidentiality of midwife data and may only release information in aggregate form that cannot identify an individual.

A new Section 2 adds legislative findings required by the California Constitution to justify limiting public access to the collected data, stating it is necessary to protect licensee privacy while gathering useful workforce data.