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 using or disclosing your protected health information. If you choose to sign an authorization to disclose information, you can later revoke that authorization to prevent any future uses or disclosures. To Business Associates. We may enter into contracts with entities known as Business Associates that provide services to or perform functions on behalf of the Plan. We may disclose protected health information to Business Associates once they have agreed in writing to safeguard the protected health information. For example, we may disclose your protected health information to a Business Associate to administer claims. Business Associates are also required by law to protect protected health information. To the Plan Sponsor. We may disclose protected health information to certain employees of RSM Electron Power, Inc. for the purpose of administering the Plan. These employees will use or disclose the protected health information only as necessary to perform plan administration functions or as otherwise required by HIPAA, unless you have authorized additional disclosures. Your protected health information cannot be used for employment purposes without your specific authorization.
Your Rights Right to Inspect and Copy. In most cases, you have the right to inspect and copy the protected health
4
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker