A statement describing L.A. Care policies and procedures for preserving the confidentiality of medical records is available and will be given to you upon request.
If you are of the age and capacity to consent to sensitive services, you are not required to get any other member’s authorization to get sensitive services or to submit a claim for sensitive services. You can read more about sensitive services in the Sensitive care section of this handbook.
You can ask L.A. Care to send communications about sensitive services to another mailing address, email address, or telephone number that you choose. This is called a “request for confidential communications.” If you request confidential communications, L.A. Care will not give information on your sensitive care services to anyone else without your written permission. If you do not give a mailing address, email address, or telephone number, L.A. Care will send communications in your name to the address or telephone number on file.
L.A. Care will honor your requests to get confidential communications in the form and format you asked for.
Or we will make sure your communications are easy to put in the form and format you asked for. We will send them to the place you choose. Your request for confidential communications lasts until you cancel it or submit new request for confidential communications.
To make a confidential communications request, please contact Member Services at 1-888-839-9909 (TTY 711).
L.A. Care’s statement of its policies and procedures for protecting your medical information (called a “Notice of privacy Practices”) is included below:
This notice describes how medical, dental, and vision information about you, with regard to your health benefits, may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information.
Please review it carefully.
The Local Initiative Health Authority for Los Angeles County, a public entity operating and doing business as L.A. Care Health Plan (L.A. Care) provides your health care benefits and coverage through State, Federal, and commercial programs.
Safeguarding your protected health information (PHI) is important to us.
L.A. Care is required to give you this notice about your rights and some of our responsibilities to keep your PHI safe, including California State notice of practices, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) notice of practices.
This notice tells you how we may use and share your PHI. It also tells you what your rights are. You may have additional or more stringent privacy rights under state law.
Changes to this Notice of Privacy Practices
L.A. Care must adhere to the notice we are now using.
We have the right to change this notice of privacy practices at any time. Any changes will apply to all your PHI, including PHI we received before the changes were made.
We will let you know when we make changes to this notice through a newsletter, letter, or our website.
You can also ask us for a copy of the new notice, please see below on how to contact us.
Use Your Rights Without Fear
L.A. Care will not take any action against you for using the privacy rights in this notice or filing a complaint.
Effective Date
The original effective date of this notice is April 14, 2003. This notice was most recently revised on November 1, 2022.
Contacting Us, or Questions, or if you want this notice in another language or format
If you have questions about this notice, or want help in applying your rights, or want this notice in another threshold language (Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Farsi, Khmer, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, or Vietnamese), large print, audio, or other alternative format (upon request) at no cost to you, then please call or write us at:
L.A. Care Member Services
1200 West 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: 1-888-839-9909 (TTY: 711)
or
L.A. Care Privacy Officer
L.A. Care Health Plan
1200 West 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: 1-888-839-9909 (TTY: 711)
Email: PrivacyOfficer@lacare.org