Participant Bill of Rights

At Central Valley PACE we are dedicated to providing you with quality health
care services so you may remain as independent as possible. Our staff is
committed to treating each and every participant with dignity and respect, and
ensuring that all participants are involved in planning for their care and
treatment.
As a Central Valley PACE participant, you have the following rights:
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT.
You have the right to be treated with dignity and respect at all times, have all of your care
kept private, and get compassionate, considerate care. You have the right to:
* Get all of your health care in an accessible manner and in a safe, clean
environment.
* Be free from harm. This includes physical or mental abuse, neglect, excessive
medications, physical punishment or being placed by yourself against your will,
as well as any physical or chemical restraint used on you for discipline or
convenience of staff that you do not need to treat your medical symptoms or
prevent injury.
* Be free from hazardous procedures.
* Receive treatment and rehabilitation services designed to promote your
functional ability to the optimal level and encourage your independence.
* Receive care from professionally trained staff that has the education and
experience to carry out the services for which they are responsible.
* Be ensured of auditory and visual privacy during all health care examinations or
treatment visits.
* Be encouraged and assisted to use your rights in Central Valley PACE.
* Get help, if you need it, using the Medicare and Medicaid complaint and appeal
processes, and your civil and other legal rights.

* Be encouraged and helped in talking to Central Valley PACE staff about
changes in policy and services you think should be made.
* Use a telephone while at the Central Valley PACE center, make and receive
confidential calls and/or have such calls made, if necessary.
* Not have to do work or services for Central Valley PACE.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTECTION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION.
Discrimination is against the law. Every company or agency that works with Medicare
and Medicaid must obey the law. They cannot discriminate against you because of your:
* Race
* Ethnicity
* National origin
* Religion
* Age
* Sex
* Sexual orientation
* Mental or physical disability
* Source of payment for your health care (for example, Medicare or Medicaid)
As a participant of Central Valley PACE, you have the right to receive competent,
considerate, respectful care from staff and contractors without regard to race, national
origin/ethnicity, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, or
source of payment for your health care.
If you think you have been discriminated against for any of these reasons, contact a staff member at Central Valley PACE to help you resolve your problem.
If you have any questions, you can call the Office for Civil Rights toll-free at 1-800-
368-1019. TTY users should call 1-800-537-7697.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE.
You have the right to get accurate; easy to understand information and have someone
help you make informed health care decisions. You have the right to:

* Have someone help you if you have a language or communication barrier so you
can understand all information given to you.
* Have someone interpret all information given to you into your preferred
language in a culturally competent manner, if your first language is not English
and you cannot speak English well enough to understand the information being
given to you.
* Have the Enrollment Agreement discussed fully and explained to you in a
manner you understand.
* Get marketing materials and Central Valley PACE rights in English and any
other frequently used language in your community. You also can get these
materials in Braille, if necessary.
* Get a written copy of your rights from Central Valley PACE. Central Valley
PACE will post these rights in a public place in the Central Valley PACE Center
where it is easy to see them.
* Be fully informed, in writing, of the services offered by Central Valley PACE.
This includes telling you which services are provided by contractors instead of
the Central Valley PACE staff. You will be given this information before you
join Central Valley PACE, at the time you join and when there is a change in
services.
* Look at, or get help to look at, the results of the most recent review of Central
Valley PACE. Federal and state agencies review all PACE programs. You also
have a right to review how Central Valley PACE plans to correct any problems
that are found at inspection.

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO A CHOICE OF PROVIDERS.
* You have the right to choose a health care provider within the Central Valley
PACE network and to get quality health care.
* Women have the right to get services from a qualified women’s health care
specialist for routine or preventive women’s health care services.

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO ACCESS EMERGENCY SERVICES.
You have the right to get emergency services when and where you need them without
Central Valley PACE’s approval. A medical emergency is when you think your health is
in serious danger – when every second counts. You may have a bad injury, sudden
illness or an illness quickly getting much worse. You can get emergency care anywhere
in the United States.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN TREATMENT DECISIONS.
You have the right to fully participate in all decisions related to your health care. If you cannot fully participate in your treatment decisions or you want to have someone you
trust help you, you have the right to choose that person to act on your behalf. You have
the right to:
* Have all treatment options explained to you in a language you understand, be
fully informed of your health status and how well you are doing, and make
health care decisions.
* Be informed of all treatment prescribed by the interdisciplinary team prior to
being treated, when and how services will be provided, and the names and
functions of people providing your care.
* Refuse treatment or medications. If you choose not to get treatment, you must
be told how this will affect your health.
* Be assured that decisions regarding your care will be made in an ethical manner.
* Be assured that you and your family will be taught about an illness affecting you
so that you can help yourself, and your family can understand your illness and
help you.
* Receive information on advance directives and have Central Valley PACE help
you create an advance directive. An advance directive is a written document
that says how you want medical decisions to be made in case you cannot speak
for yourself.
* Participate in making and carrying out your plan of care, which will be designed
to promote your functional ability to the highest level and encourage your
independence. You can ask for your plan of care to be reviewed at any time.
You can also request a reassessment by the interdisciplinary team at any time.

* Be given advance notice, in writing, of any plan to move you to another
treatment setting, and the reason you are being moved.

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO HAVE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION KEPT
PRIVATE.
You have the right to:
* Talk with health care providers in private and have your personal health care
information kept private as protected under state and federal laws.
* Review and receive copies of your medical records and request amendments to
those records.
* Be assured that all information contained in your health record will be held in
confidence, including information contained in any automated data bank.
Central Valley PACE will require your written consent for the release of
information to persons not otherwise authorized under law to receive it. You
may provide written consent, which limits the degree of information and the
persons to whom information may be given.
* There is a new participant privacy rule that gives you more access to your own
medical records and more control over how your personal health information is
used. If you have any questions about this privacy rule you may call the Office
for Civil Rights toll-free at 1-800-368-1019. TTY users should call 1-800-537-
7697.

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO FILE A COMPLAINT.
You have a right to complain about the services you receive, or that you need and do not
receive, about the quality of care, or any other concerns or problems you have with
Central Valley PACE. You have the right to a fair and timely process for resolving
concerns with Central Valley PACE. You have the right to:
* A full explanation of the complaint and appeals process.
* Be encouraged and helped to freely explain your complaints to Central Valley
PACE staff and outside representatives of your choice. You must not be harmed
in any way for telling someone your concerns. This includes being punished,
threatened or discriminated against.

* Appeal any treatment decision by Central Valley PACE, staff or contractors.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO LEAVE THE PROGRAM.
If for any reason you do not feel that Central Valley PACE is what you want, you have
the right to leave the program at any time. Your disenrollment is effective on the first day
of the month following the date that Central Valley PACE receives your notice of
disenrollment.
If you feel any of your rights have been violated, please report them immediately to your
social worker or call our office during regular business hours at:
209-724-6000 toll free 855-461-7223
TTY/TDD 209-726-7380 toll free 844-461-7223

If you want to talk with someone outside of Central Valley PACE about your concerns,
you may call:

1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), or

1-888-452-8609 (Department of Health Care Services Office of the Ombudsman)
Last revised: October 2018