7 months ago
SACRAMENTO, CA - The Social Security numbers of thousands of Medi-Cal recipients was inadvertently on the envelopes of a recent mailing, says the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).
The numbers were displayed as a nine-digit string on the envelope mailing addresses to 49,352 Adult Day Health Care beneficiaries, according to DHCS. The mailings went out Feb. 1 and were titled "Notice of Change in Medical Necessity and Eligibility Criteria for Authorization of ADHC Services."
DCHS said it learned of the error Feb. 4 and has notified the mailing recipients.
The department said it had not received reports of identity breaches involving the error.
"The privacy of Medi-Cal beneficiaries is a top priority for DHCS," said DHCS Director David Maxwell-Jolly in a news release. "We have implemented additional safeguards governing the release of Social Security Numbers, and our mailing vendor has implemented additional quality control measures to prevent such errors from occurring in the future. We take any breach of secure documents very seriously, and we regret this error. We will redouble our efforts to ensure that all beneficiary information entrusted to the state is aggressively and appropriately protected."
What to do if your Social Security number is compromised.
News10/KXTV
