DHCS PRIVACY BREACH

 

DHCS Commits Serious Privacy Breach as Nearly 50,000 ADHC Beneficiaries Receive Notice of Eligibility Changes with SSN on Outside of Envelope

Posted February 8, 2010

ADHC Medi-Cal beneficiaries and their family members now have another threat to worry about - identity theft and Medi-Cal fraud. Envelopes containing a DHCS notice of changes in medical necessity and eligibility criteria for adult day health care services inexplicably placed the recipient's Social Security number on the outside of the envelope, in violation of state and federal privacy laws.

On February 8, 2010, CAADS hand-delivered a letter to the Governor calling his Administration's February 1, 2008 notice of eligibility changes to 49,352 ADHC Medi-Cal beneficiaries and their family members unintelligible, illegal and unnecessarily frightening. In a follow-up letter to ADHC beneficiaries, DHCS listed steps to minimize identity theft, but for frail elders and those challenged by Alzheimer's, chronic medical conditions or mental illness, the process will be difficult, time-consuming and stressful.

Appalled by the fiasco, CAADS Executive Director Lydia Missaelides said, "This entire mess could have been avoided. The state is only required to provide legally adequate notice to beneficiaries who will be terminated from ADHC services -- a majority of participants won't even be affected by the changes in program eligibility. DHCS failed to consider how participants would react to the first letter, and now the second letter about disclosure of social security numbers is creating even greater panic among participants and family members, and sending center staff into overdrive to assist them."

Participants and family members with questions about continued eligibility for ADHC services are directed to contact their ADHC center or Medi-Cal at (916) 636-1980.