California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services opposing a proposed rule that would eliminate model card requirements for AI tools in healthcare, warning that such rollbacks could lead to biased and unsafe healthcare decisions by reducing transparency.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements with healthcare AI software developers and customer agreements with healthcare providers deploying AI tools. Focus on clauses governing AI tool certification, transparency documentation (e.g., model cards), bias testing requirements, and data usage disclosures. Given the proposed federal rollback, contracts may need amendments to explicitly mandate model card provisions, require regular bias audits, and ensure compliance with state-level transparency standards to mitigate risks of unsafe or discriminatory healthcare decisions.
Entity
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Also known as: Department of Health and Human Services
Industry
OtherOfficial Press Release
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-opposes-trump-administration%E2%80%99s-proposed-slashing
CA AGO ONC Model Card Letter 02.27.26
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/CA%20AGO_ONC%20Model%20Card%20Letter_02.27.26.pdf
California Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/privacy-enforcement-actions
"U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)"
"The Affordable Care Act"
"California law"
"New and emerging AI tools are used by many healthcare providers to make life-changing decisions, such as which patients to refer to specialists, which diseases to screen a patient for, or whether a reaction to an infection might be deadly."
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alongside attorneys general from New York, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota, filed a motion for preliminary injunction to continue blocking the Trump Administration's unlawful freeze of $10 billion in federal funding for child care and family assistance programs and to prevent broad data requests for personally identifiable information of millions of residents. The funding freeze targets five Democratic-led states without evidence of fraud, and the data requests are part of the challenged unlawful actions. A temporary restraining order was previously granted blocking these measures.
Civil rights and health enforcement action where Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, joined by 11 other states, sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over a policy that conditions federal health, education, and research funding on states' agreement to discriminate
A coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by Colorado AG Phil Weiser, obtained a temporary restraining order from a federal court in California to halt the proposed $110 billion merger of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by Paramount Skydance Corporation. The lawsuit alleges the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act by substantially lessening competition in film distribution, anticipated blockbuster film distribution, and licensing cable TV channels.
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) joined a coalition of 18 Attorneys General and state agencies in opposing the proposed SECURE Data Act, a federal privacy bill that would preempt stronger state privacy laws like the CCPA. The coalition argues the bill would weaken consumer privacy protections, limit enforcement remedies, and undermine California's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP).
$12.8M
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with multiple district attorneys and the California Privacy Protection Agency, announced a $12.75 million settlement with General Motors for illegally selling hundreds of thousands of Californians' location and driving data to data brokers Verisk and LexisNexis without notice or consent. The settlement includes the largest CCPA penalty to date, a five-year ban on selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies, and requirements to delete retained data and implement a robust privacy program.
The California Privacy Protection Agency Board voted to support two bills (AB 1542 and SB 1106) and took a 'support if amended' position on a third bill (AB 883). These bills aim to strengthen privacy protections by expanding sensitive data protections, improving deletion rights under the Delete Act, and providing expedited deletion for elected officials and judges.