This notice is intended to inform you of the privacy practices followed by the Wohlsen Construction Health Plan and the Plan’s legal obligations regarding your protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The notice also explains the privacy rights you and your family members have as participants of the Plan. It is effective on 12/12/2024. The Plan often needs access to your protected health information in order to provide payment for health services and perform plan administrative functions. We want to assure the plan participants covered under the Plan that we comply with federal privacy laws and respect your right to privacy. Wohlsen Construction requires all members of our workforce and third parties that are provided access to protected health information to comply with the privacy practices outlined below. Protected Health Information Your protected health information is protected by the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Generally, protected health information is information that identifies an individual created or received by a health care provider, health plan or an employer on behalf of a group health plan that relates to physical or mental health conditions, provision of health care, or payment for health care, whether past, present or future. How We May Use Your Protected Health Information Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, we may use or disclose your protected health information for certain purposes without your permission. This section describes the ways we can use and disclose your protected health information. Payment. We use or disclose your protected health information without your written authorization in order to determine eligibility for benefits, seek reimbursement from a third party, or coordinate benefits with another health plan under which you are covered. For example, a health care provider that provided treatment to you will provide us with your health information. We use that information in order to determine whether those services are eligible for payment under our group health plan. Health Care Operations. We use and disclose your protected health information in order to perform plan administration functions such as quality assurance activities, resolution of internal grievances, and evaluating plan performance. For example, we review claims experience in order to understand participant utilization and to make plan design changes that are intended to control health care costs. Treatment. Although the law allows use and disclosure of your protected health information for purposes of treatment, as a health plan we generally do not need to disclose your information for treatment purposes. Your physician or health care provider is required to provide you with an explanation of how they use and share your health information for purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations. As permitted or required by law. We may also use or disclose your protected health information without your written authorization for other reasons as permitted by law. We are permitted by law to share information, subject to certain requirements, in order to communicate information on health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you, respond to a court order, or provide information to further public health activities (e.g., preventing the spread of disease) without your written authorization. We are also permitted to share protected health information during a corporate restructuring such as a merger, sale, or acquisition. We will also disclose health information about you when required by law, for example, in order to prevent serious harm to you or others. Pursuant to Your Authorization. When required by law, we will ask for your written authorization before
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