California Department of Health Care Services

California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) reported to HHS on 2012-12-23 an Unauthorized Access/Disclosure affecting 2,643 individuals. Due to a computer programming error in electronic mailing files, 2,705 Medi-Cal member ID cards were mailed to wrong households. PHI on the cards included names, dates of birth, genders, dates of issue, and Medi-Cal-assigned numbers. The CE halted mailings, deactivated and replaced the cards, and implemented new data transfer policies and mailing procedures. OCR obtained assurances of corrective action.

Affected (this filing): 2,643

California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) disclosed a misdelivery incident involving Beneficiary Identification Cards (BIC) for Medi-Cal children. Between December 10 and 18, 2012, cards were mailed to the wrong households due to a programming error. Affected data included names, Client Index Numbers, dates of birth, and gender; Social Security Numbers were not included. DHCS discovered the error on December 19, 2012, and sent notification letters and replacement cards to affected families.