THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
The effective date of this Notice of Health, Welfare & Insurance Fund, Teamsters Local 653 Health Information Privacy Practices (the “Notice”) is September 23, 2013.
Health, Welfare & Insurance Fund, Teamsters Local 653 (the “Plan”) provides health benefits to eligible employees of Covered Employers (the “Company”) and their eligible dependents as described in the summary plan description(s) for the Plan. The Plan creates, receives, uses, maintains and discloses health information about participating employees and dependents in the course of providing these health benefits.
For ease of reference, in the remainder of this Notice, the words “you,” “your,” and “yours” refers to any individual with respect to whom the Plan receives, creates or maintains Protected Health Information, including employees, retirees, and COBRA qualified beneficiaries, if any, and their respective dependents.
The Plan is required by law to take reasonable steps to protect your Protected Health Information from inappropriate use or disclosure.
Your “Protected Health Information” (PHI) is information about your past, present, or future physical or mental health condition, the provision of health care to you, or the past, present, or future payment for health care provided to you, but only if the information identifies you or there is a reasonable basis to believe that the information could be used to identify you. Protected health information includes information of a person living or deceased (for a period of fifty years after the death.)
The Plan is required by law to provide notice to you of the Plan’s duties and privacy practices with respect to your PHI, and is doing so through this Notice. This Notice describes the different ways in which the Plan uses and discloses PHI. It is not feasible in this Notice to describe in detail all of the specific uses and disclosures the Plan may make of PHI, so this Notice describes all of the categories of uses and disclosures of PHI that the Plan may make and, for most of those categories, gives examples of those uses and disclosures.
The Plan is required to abide by the terms of this Notice until it is replaced. The Plan may change its privacy practices at any time and, if any such change requires a change to the terms of this Notice, the Plan will revise and re-distribute this Notice according to the Plan’s distribution process. Accordingly, the Plan can change the terms of this Notice at any time. The Plan has the right to make any such change effective for all of your PHI that the Plan creates, receives or maintains, even if the Plan received or created that PHI before the effective date of the change.
The Plan is distributing this Notice, and will distribute any revisions, only to participating employees, retirees and COBRA qualified beneficiaries, if any. If you have coverage under the Plan as a dependent of an employee, retiree or COBRA qualified beneficiary, you can get a copy of the Notice by requesting it from the contact named at the end of this Notice.
Please note that this Notice applies only to your PHI that the Plan maintains. It does not affect your doctor’s or other health care provider’s privacy practices with respect to your PHI that they maintain.
The Plan may disclose your PHI to, and allow use and disclosure of your PHI by, the Company and Business Associates without obtaining your authorization.
Plan Sponsor: The Company is the Plan Sponsor and Plan Administrator. The Plan may disclose to the Company, in summary form, claims history and other information so that the Company may solicit premium bids for health benefits, or to modify, amend or terminate the Plan. This summary information omits your name and Social Security Number and certain other identifying information. The Plan may also disclose information about your participation and enrollment status in the Plan to the Company and receive similar information from the Company. If the Company agrees in writing that it will protect the information against inappropriate use or disclosure, the Plan also may disclose to the Company a limited data set that includes your PHI, but omits certain direct identifiers, as described later in this Notice.
The Plan may disclose your PHI to the Company for plan administration functions performed by the Company on behalf of the Plan, if the Company certifies to the Plan that it will protect your PHI against inappropriate use and disclosure.
Example: The Company reviews and decides appeals of claim denials under the Plan. The Claims Administrator provides PHI regarding an appealed claim to the Company for that review, and the Company uses PHI to make the decision on appeal.
Business Associates: The Plan and the Company hire third parties, such as a third party administrator (the “Claims Administrator”), to help the Plan provide health benefits. These third parties are known as the Plan’s “Business Associates.” The Plan may disclose your PHI to Business Associates, like the Claims Administrator, who are hired by the Plan or the Company to assist or carry out the terms of the Plan. In addition, these Business Associates may receive PHI from third parties or create PHI about you in the course of carrying out the terms of the Plan. The Plan and the Company must require all Business Associates to agree in writing that they will protect your PHI against inappropriate use or disclosure, and will require their subcontractors and agents to do so, too.
For purposes of this Notice, all actions of the Company and the Business Associates that are taken on behalf of the Plan are considered actions of the Plan. For example, health information maintained in the files of the Claims Administrator is considered maintained by the Plan. So, when this Notice refers to the Plan taking various actions with respect to health information, those actions may be taken by the Company or a Business Associate on behalf of the Plan.
The Plan may use and disclose your PHI for the following purposes without obtaining your authorization. And, with only limited exceptions, we will send all mail to you, the employee. This includes mail relating to your spouse and other family members who are covered under the Plan. If a person covered under the Plan has requested Restrictions or Confidential Communications, and if the Plan has agreed to the request, the Plan will send mail as provided by the request for Restrictions or Confidential Communications.
Your Health Care Treatment: The Plan may disclose your PHI for treatment (as defined in applicable federal rules) activities of a health care provider.
Making or Obtaining Payment for Health Care or Coverage: The Plan may use or disclose your PHI for payment (as defined in applicable federal rules) activities, including making payment to or collecting payment from third parties, such as health care providers and other health plans.
The Plan’s use or disclosure of your PHI for payment purposes may include uses and disclosures for the following purposes, among others.
Except as stated above, the Plan will not use or disclose your PHI unless it first receives written authorization from you. If you authorize the Plan to use or disclose your PHI, you may revoke that authorization in writing at any time, by sending notice of your revocation to the contact person named at the end of this Notice. To the extent that the Plan has taken action in reliance on your authorization (entered into an agreement to provide your PHI to a third party, for example) you cannot revoke your authorization.
Furthermore, we will not: (1) supply confidential information to another company for its marketing purposes (unless it is for certain limited Health Care Operations); (2) sell your confidential information (unless under strict legal restrictions) (to sell means to receive direct or indirect remuneration); (3) provide your confidential information to a potential employer with whom you are seeking employment without your signed authorization; or (4) use or disclose psychotherapy notes unless required by law.
Additionally, if a state or other law requires disclosure of immunization records to a school, written authorization is no longer required. However, a covered entity still must obtain and document an agreement which may be oral and over the phone.
The Plan May Contact You
The Plan may contact you for various reasons, usually in connection with claims and payments and usually by mail.
You should note that the Plan may contact you about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Confidential Communication by Alternative Means: If you feel that disclosure of your PHI could endanger you, the Plan will accommodate a reasonable request to communicate with you by alternative means or at alternative locations. For example, you might request the Plan to communicate with you only at a particular address. If you wish to request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to the contact person named at the end of this Notice. You do not need to state the specific reason that you feel disclosure of your PHI might endanger you in making the request, but you do need to state whether that is the case. Your request also must specify how or where you wish to be contacted. The Plan will notify you if it agrees to your request for confidential communication. You should not assume that the Plan has accepted your request until the Plan confirms its agreement to that request in writing.
Request Restriction on Certain Uses and Disclosures: You may request the Plan to restrict the uses and disclosures it makes of your PHI. This request will restrict or limit the PHI that is disclosed for Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations, and this restriction may limit the information that the Plan discloses to someone who is involved in your care or the payment for your care. The Plan is not required to agree to a requested restriction, but if it does agree to your requested restriction, the Plan is bound by that agreement, unless the information is needed in an emergency situation. There are some restrictions, however, that are not permitted even with the Plan’s agreement. To request a restriction, please submit your written request to the contact person identified at the end of this Notice. In the request please specify: (1) what information you want to restrict; (2) whether you want to limit the Plan’s use of that information, its disclosure of that information, or both; and (3) to whom you want the limits to apply (a particular physician, for example). The Plan will notify you if it agrees to a requested restriction on how your PHI is used or disclosed. You should not assume that the Plan has accepted a requested restriction until the Plan confirms its agreement to that restriction in writing. You may request restrictions on our use and disclosure of your confidential information for the treatment, payment and health care operations purposes explained in this Notice. Notwithstanding this policy, the plan will comply with any restriction request if (1) except as otherwise required by law, the disclosure is to the health plan for purposes of carrying out payment or health care operations (and it is not for purposes of carrying out treatment); and (2) the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or service for which the health care provider has been paid out-of-pocket in full.
Right to Be Notified of a Breach: You have the right to be notified in the event that the plan (or a Business Associate) discovers a breach of unsecured protected health information.
Electronic Health Records: You may also request and receive an accounting of disclosures of electronic health records made for treatment, payment, or health care operations during the prior three years for disclosures made on or after (1) January 1, 2014 for electronic health records acquired before January 1, 2009; or (2) January 1, 2011 for electronic health records acquired on or after January 1, 2009.
The first list you request within a 12-month period will be free. You may be charged for providing any additional lists within a 12-month period.
Paper Copy of This Notice: You have a right to request and receive a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you received this Notice previously, or have agreed to receive this Notice electronically. To obtain a paper copy please call or write the contact person named at the end of this Notice.
Right to Access Your PHI: You have a right to access your PHI in the Plan’s enrollment, payment, claims adjudication and case management records, or in other records used by the Plan to make decisions about you, in order to inspect it and obtain a copy of it. Your request for access to this PHI should be made in writing to the contact person named at the end of this Notice. The Plan may deny your request for access, for example, if you request information compiled in anticipation of a legal proceeding. If access is denied, you will be provided with a written notice of the denial, a description of how you may exercise any review rights you might have, and a description of how you may complain to Plan or the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you request a copy of your PHI, the Plan may charge a reasonable fee for copying and, if applicable, postage associated with your request.
Right to Amend: You have the right to request amendments to your PHI in the Plan’s records if you believe that it is incomplete or inaccurate. A request for amendment of PHI in the Plan’s records should be made in writing to the contact person named at the end of this Notice. The Plan may deny the request if it does not include a reason to support the amendment. The request also may be denied if, for example, your PHI in the Plan’s records was not created by the Plan, if the PHI you are requesting to amend is not part of the Plan's records, or if the Plan determines the records containing your health information are accurate and complete. If the Plan denies your request for an amendment to your PHI, it will notify you of its decision in writing, providing the basis for the denial, information about how you can include information on your requested amendment in the Plan’s records, and a description of how you may complain to Plan or the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Accounting: You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures made of your health information. Most of the disclosures that the Plan makes of your PHI are not subject to this accounting requirement because routine disclosures (those related to payment of your claims, for example) generally are excluded from this requirement. Also, disclosures that you authorize or that occurred prior to April 14, 2003 are not subject to this requirement. To request an accounting of disclosures of your PHI, you must submit your request in writing to the contact person named at the end of this Notice. Your request must state a time period which may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before April 14, 2003. Your request should indicate in what form you want the accounting to be provided (for example on paper or electronically). The first list you request within a 12-month period will be free. If you request more than one accounting within a 12-month period, the Plan will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for each subsequent accounting.
Personal Representatives: You may exercise your rights through a personal representative. Your personal representative will be required to produce evidence of his/her authority to act on your behalf before that person will be given access to your PHI or allowed to take any action for you. The Plan retains discretion to deny a personal representative access to your PHI to the extent permissible under applicable law.
If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to express complaints to the Plan and to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Any complaints to the Plan should be made in writing to the contact person named at the end of this Notice. The Plan encourages you to express any concerns you may have regarding the privacy of your information. You will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint.
Contact Information
The Plan has designated Caroline Mailloux as its contact person for all issues regarding the Plan’s privacy practices and your privacy rights. You can reach this contact person at:
4-B Hampden Drive
South Easton, MA 02375
Phone: (508) 230-9450
Fax: (508) 230-7147