I. WHAT IS "PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION?"

Your protected health information (PHI) is health information that contains identifiers, such as your name, Social Security number, or other information that reveals who you are. For example, your medical record is PHI because it includes your name and other identifiers.

II. ABOUT OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT YOUR PHI

By law, we must

1. protect the privacy of your PHI,
2. tell you about your rights and our legal duties with respect to your PHI, and
3. tell you about our privacy practices and follow our notice currently in effect.

We take these responsibilities seriously and, as in the past, we will continue to take appropriate steps to safeguard the privacy of your PHI.

In the course of providing health care, we collect various types of PHI from members and patients and other sources, including other health care providers. The medical information may be used, for example, to provide health care services and customer services, evaluate benefits and claims, administer health care coverage, measure performance (utilization review), detect fraud and abuse, and fulfill legal and regulatory requirements. The types of PHI that we collect and maintain about applicants include, for example:

• Information from members/patients, for example, through surveys, applications and other forms, and online communications; and
• Information about your relationship with Kaiser Permanente such as medical services received, claims history, and information from your benefits plan sponsor or employer about group health coverage you may have.

III. YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR PHI

This section tells you about your rights regarding your PHI. It also describes how you can exercise these rights.

Your right to see and receive copies of your PHI

In general, you have a right to see and receive copies of your PHI in designated record sets such as your application. If you would like to see or receive a copy of such a record, please write us.

In limited situations, we may deny some or all of your request to see or receive copies of your records, but if we do, we will tell you why in writing and explain your right, if any, to have our denial reviewed.

Your right to choose how we send PHI to you

You may ask us to send your PHI to you at a different address (for example, your work address) or by different means (for example, fax instead of regular mail). When we can reasonably and lawfully agree to your request, we will. However, we are permitted to charge you for any additional cost of sending your PHI to different addresses or by different means.

Your right to correct or update your PHI

If you believe there is a mistake in your PHI or that important information is missing, you may request that we correct or add to the record. Please write us and tell us what you are asking for and why we should make the correction or addition.

Your right to an accounting of disclosures of PHI

You may ask us for a list of our disclosures of your PHI. Write to us to make this request. The list we give you will include disclosures made in the last six years, unless you request a shorter time.

You are entitled to one disclosure accounting in any 12-month period at no charge. If you request any additional accountings less than 12 months later, we may charge a fee.

Your right to request limits on uses and disclosures of your PHI

You may request that we limit our uses and disclosures of your PHI for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes. However, by law, we do not have to agree to your request. Because we strongly believe that this information is needed to appropriately manage the care of our members/patients, it is our policy to not agree to requests for restrictions.

Your right to receive a paper copy of this notice

You also have a right to receive a paper copy of this notice upon request.

IV. COMPANIES SUBJECT TO THIS NOTICE

This notice applies to eHealthQuotes, Incorporated.

Our personnel may have access to your PHI as benefits specialists and for the transfer of applications to Kaiser Permanente Insurance Company.

V. HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE YOUR PHI

Your confidentiality is important to us. Our employees are required to maintain the confidentiality of the PHI of our applicants and we have policies and procedures and other safeguards to help protect your PHI from improper use and disclosure. Sometimes we are allowed by law to use and disclose certain PHI without your written permission. We briefly describe these uses and disclosures below and give you some examples.

How much PHI is used or disclosed without your written permission will vary depending, for example, on the intended purpose of the use or disclosure. Sometimes we may only need to use or disclose a limited amount of PHI.

• Communications with family and others when you are present: Sometimes a family member or other person involved in your care will be present when we are discussing your PHI with you. If you object, please tell us and we won't discuss your PHI or we will ask the person to leave.
• Communications with family and others when you are not present: There may be times when it is necessary to disclose your PHI to a family member or other person involved in your care because there is an emergency, you are not present, or you lack the decision making capacity to agree or object. In those instances, we will use our professional judgment to determine if it's in your best interest to disclose your PHI. If so, we will limit the disclosure to the PHI that is directly relevant to the person's involvement with your health care. For example, we may allow someone to pick up a prescription for you.
• Required by law: In some circumstances federal or state law requires that we disclose your PHI to others. For example, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services may review our compliance efforts, which may include seeing your PHI.
• Lawsuits and other legal disputes: We may use and disclose PHI in responding to a court or administrative order, a subpoena, or a discovery request. We may also use and disclose PHI to the extent permitted by law without your authorization, for example, to defend a lawsuit or arbitration.
• Law enforcement: We may disclose PHI to authorized officials for law enforcement purposes, for example, to respond to a search warrant, report a crime on our premises, or help identify or locate someone.
• Serious threat to health or safety: We may use and disclose your PHI if we believe it is necessary to avoid a serious threat to your health or safety or to someone else's.
• Abuse or neglect: By law, we may disclose PHI to the appropriate authority to report suspected child abuse or neglect or to identify suspected victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
• Coroners and funeral directors: We may disclose PHI to a coroner or medical examiner to permit identification of a body, determine cause of death, or for other official duties. We may also disclose PHI to funeral directors.
• Inmates: Under the federal law that requires us to give you this notice, inmates do not have the same rights to control their PHI as other individuals. If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or in the custody of a law enforcement official, we may disclose your PHI to the correctional institution or the law enforcement official for certain purposes, for example, to protect your health or safety or someone else's.

VI. ALL OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES OF YOUR PHI REQUIRE YOUR PRIOR WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION

Except for those uses and disclosures described above, we will not use or disclose your PHI without your written authorization. When your authorization is required and you authorize us to use or disclose your PHI for some purpose, you may revoke that authorization by notifying us in writing at any time. Please note that the revocation will not apply to any authorized use or disclosure of your PHI that took place before we received your revocation. Also, if you gave your authorization to secure a policy of insurance, including health care coverage from us, you may not be permitted to revoke it until the insurer can no longer contest the policy issued to you or a claim under the policy.

VII. HOW TO CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE OR TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PRIVACY PRACTICES

If you have any questions about this notice, or want to lodge a complaint about our privacy practices, please let us know by calling 1-877-752-4737 extension 405. You also may notify the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

We will not take retaliatory action against you if you file a complaint about our privacy practices.

VIII. CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

We may change this notice and our privacy practices at any time, as long as the change is consistent with state and federal law. Any revised notice will apply both to the PHI we already have about you at the time of the change, and any PHI created or received after the change takes effect. Except for changes required by law, we will not implement an important change to our privacy practices before we revise this notice.

IX. EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS NOTICE

This notice is effective on February 4, 2008.

 

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