Our Plans Basic Health Basic Health Medical Benefits Summary Rights and Responsibilities, Privacy Protected Health Information Protected Health Information and Authorizations Protected Health Information and Authorizations
To protect your privacy, we will talk only to you about your health information, unless:
- You tell us that we can talk to someone else.
- We are required or it is legally okay to talk to someone else.
If you want us to talk about your health information to a family member or friend, you must give us a signed release form.
If you give us permission to share your health information with others, it is okay to change your mind later. You must tell us that you have changed your mind by calling our customer service team so we know to stop sharing this information.
Age of Consent
Washington State’s general age of majority for health care is 18. However, a minor can get services without parental consent in some cases. See the "Minor Consent in Washington State" table, which follows. Minor Consent in Washington State*
| Service | Need Only Minor Consent? | Need Parent or Guardian Consent? | Need to Notify Parent or Guardian? | Notes & Source |
Emergency medical services | Yes | No | No | If parent's consent is not readily available, need for consent is satisfied and minor can get the services. |
Non-emergency medical services | No, unless Mature Minor Doctrine applies. (See Notes & Source.) | Yes, unless minor meets Mature Minor Doctrine. | No | If it is not a medical emergency or one of the other services listed in this table, minors may give consent under the Mature Minor Doctrine. They must understand what might happen as a result of a medical procedure. To decide if a patient is a mature minor, providers look at the minor's:
|
Immunizations | No, unless Mature Minor Doctrine applies. | Yes, unless minor meets Mature Minor Doctrine. | No | Minors may get immunizations without parental consent under the Mature Minor Doctrine. (See the Non-Emergency Medical Services Notes & Source column.) |
Sexually transmitted disease testing & treatment (including HIV) | Yes, if 14 or older | No | No | Some agencies, such as Public Health – Seattle & King County, test or treat people of any age because their mission is to prevent or control the spread of disease. |
Birth control services | Yes (at any age) | No | No | Minors may get or refuse birth control services at any age without consent. |
Abortion & abortion-related services | Yes | No | No | Minors also do not need the consent of the father of the child. |
Prenatal care services | Yes (at any age) | No | No |
|
Outpatient mental health treatment | Yes, if 13 or older | No | No | The parents are not notified without minor consent. |
Inpatient mental health treatment | Yes, if 13 or older | No | Yes | No consent needed to get the services, but parents must be notified. |
Outpatient substance abuse treatment | Yes, if 13 or older | No | See Source and Notes. | Provider will inform parents that minor is getting this treatment within 7 business days if:
|
Inpatient substance abuse treatment | No, unless minor is Child In Need of Services (CHINS). | Yes, unless CHINS | Yes, unless CHINS |
|
* This table is adapted from the resource provided by Northwest Justice Project .
For more information or to get a release form, please call the Community Health Plan customer service team at 1-800-440-1561 toll free. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please call TTY 1-866-816-2479 toll free or local 206-613-8875.
Your Personal Information and the Web
When you visit this Community Health Plan web site, www.chpw.org, the web site automatically records some information. The web site records the IP address of the computer you are using. If another site referred you, our web site records the IP address of the site that referred you. The web site also records the number of people who look at each page on our site, but it does not tell us who saw which page.
None of this information is collected in a way that can be used to identify you personally, to contact you, or to store information about you.
The information we collect is used only to:
- Tell us which pages are visited most often.
- Show which organizations and domains send the most visitors to our web site.
If you are asked to enter information in a form on any page of the web site, that page will tell you exactly how we will use that information. You can refuse to enter the information, if you want to.
If you have any questions or concerns about how your information is collected or about how information you enter in a form is used, please contact the Community Health Plan customer service team at 1-800-440-1561 toll free. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please call TTY 1-866-816-2479 toll free or local 206-613-8875.