A new lease on life

When Kaiser Permanente member Isabela Tevanyan received a notice from her landlord advising her of a rent increase that she could not afford, Tevanyan believed the unavoidable next step would be to live out of her car.

However, during a visit to the Kaiser Permanente Cancer Center at Los Angeles Medical Center, where she was being treated for lung cancer, Tevanyan received a lifeline from an unexpected source.

During Tevanyan’s appointment, Patricia Arevalo-Porcelli, a licensed clinical social worker, referred her to Kaiser Permanente’s Medical-Legal Partnership Initiative, which connects members with a nonprofit legal service provider for legal assistance at no cost.

Medical-legal partnerships provide access to legal services within the health care system. By placing attorneys within the broader multidisciplinary team of experts, the attorney can identify a patient’s legal needs before the patient goes to court in a full-blown crisis.

The Los Angeles Medical Center’s Social Medicine team is partnering with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County to support members in the Los Angeles, Glendale, and Pasadena areas of California.

For Tevanyan, the legal assistance was a blessing. A longtime hotel industry employee, Tevanyan lived on a reduced income when her hours were cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer, her landlord served her with a notice that her rent would be increasing by $500 a month, which she could not afford.

“In reviewing Tevanyan’s case, I saw that the monthly rent increase of $500 was much above what is permissible under state and local laws,” explained supervising attorney, Elisa Cariño, a member of Kaiser Permanente’s Medical-Legal Partnership Initiative who worked with Tevanyan.

“I helped her with a response she could take to her landlord, which also addressed a few other issues.”

Armed with legal expertise and support, Tevanyan could reverse the rent increase and remain in the same apartment where she has lived for more than 10 years. “My attorney was very kind, and she helped me understand my rights as a tenant, which are not easy to find or understand,” she said.

“If it wasn’t for Kaiser Permanente, I would be like one of those statistically homeless families who have to live in a car, not because they want to but because there is no other option.”

Kaiser Permanente’s Medical-Legal Partnership Initiative is part of the organization’s broader Health, Housing, and Justice Initiative. Kaiser Permanente has provided, $6.7 million in funding for these initiatives since 2021.

“Kaiser Permanente understands that social determinants, including housing insecurity, influence a patient’s health,” said Bob Luterbach, chief operations officer, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. “Through our efforts like the MLP initiative, we are working to prevent evictions and connect community residents with legal services so they can focus on staying healthy.”

As of the end of August 2024, 360 Kaiser Permanente members treated at Los Angeles Medical Center have been referred to the MLP initiative, and over 250 cases have been opened. Since 2021, Kaiser Permanente has been able to help prevent evictions by providing access to legal services for nearly 3,500 individuals and families living across 5 states.