This policy describes how information about you may be used and disclosed and how you access this information. Please review it. By visiting our site, you are agreeing to the provisions of this policy, and that Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative may collect, use and share information as described below.
Our Commitment
Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative (“CGHC”) understands your privacy is important to you. It is important to us too! If you are shopping for health insurance, are planning on applying for one of our plans, or are already a customer, know that our website uses secure data collection, processing and storage procedures designed to comply with applicable laws and regulations to help keep your information secure against unauthorized access, disclosure, change or destruction.
Information We Collect
If you are a visitor to our site and do not provide any personally identifiable information (PII), we do not collect or store any information relating to your identity. We will collect information about your visit including the IP address from which you access the internet, the date and time you access the site, the pages you visit, the internet address from which you linked to our site, words used in a search engine to reach our site, the type of browser and operating system you used to access our site, and the search terms you used while visiting our site. We may utilize “cookies” to provide a more valuable experience. Such cookies are used to enhance the visitor’s experience. CGHC does not use cookies to market products to you. (A cookie is a small text file sent by a web server and stored on your hard drive in your browser. Cookies cannot “read” information about you from your computer or be used to “steal” information about you. Most browsers will allow you to disable cookies, or can be set to notify you when you receive a cookie, thus giving you the opportunity to decide whether or not to accept it.)
If you apply for coverage or are a customer, in addition to the information described above, we will also collect and store information about you such as:
- Information on applications or in communications with us such as your name, address, phone numbers, medical information, employment information, date of birth and social security number.
- Information about your transactions with CGHC such as your account balance, fees, payments, and the identity of persons to whom you make payments including health care providers.
- Information from public sources such as government records.
- Information that CGHC obtains from you on our website, including digital signature.
Providing PII for the purposes of seeking health insurance coverage is a voluntary submission of PII under the applicable law.
What We Do with Your Information
If you are a visitor to our site, we may use the information we collect to review and evaluate our website content, your user experience, and the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.
If you apply for coverage or are a customer, the information we collect about you is protected by us as “protected health information” or “PHI.” PHI is individually identifiable health information regarding the identity of and the physical or mental condition of an individual which is transmitted or maintained in any form or medium. This includes facts of service and payment for healthcare service for individuals. This personal information is covered by federal and state privacy rules. As such, the use and disclosure of your information is regulated and enforced. As part of providing our services to you, you understand that CGHC will obtain personal information about you. CGHC may disclose personal information to your healthcare providers, state and federal regulators, and our business associates and agents only to the extent permitted by law. Click here to find detailed information about our Notice of Privacy Practices.
CGHC does not sell our customer lists or individual customer information or provide it to others for marketing purposes.
Your Health Information Rights
Providing any of your PII through our website is voluntary. However, if you chose not to provide information, you will be unable to use certain functions of our website.
Your health record is the physical property of Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative. However, the information belongs to you. You have the right to request restrictions on certain users and disclosures of your information, inspect and request a copy of your health information as well as amendment of your health information. You may obtain a listing of disclosures of your health information and request communications of your health information by other means.
For more information on your health information rights, including how to request restrictions on how we use and disclose your information, click here to visit our Notice of Privacy Practices.
Our Responsibilities
Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative will maintain the privacy of your health information in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. CGHC has legal obligations and privacy practices with respect to information CGHC collects and maintains about you. CGHC will abide by the privacy practices outlined in this statement. CGHC reserves the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all information we maintain. Should these practices change, CGHC will post a revised statement on our website.
If you become a CGHC member, upon enrollment, and annually thereafter, CGHC provides a HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices. This will inform you of our policies and procedures regarding the collection, use and disclosure of member PHI, including policies and procedures related to internal protection of oral, written and electronic PHI across the organization.
Our Information Security Standards
CGHC has developed policies and procedures to keep your personal information confidential and secure. We restrict access to those employees and other persons who must use that information to provide services on our behalf. CGHC maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and industry standards, to protect the confidentiality of the personal information CGHC obtains.
Online Privacy and Security
CGHC has adopted and adheres to security standards designed to protect non-public personal information at our website against accidental or unauthorized access or disclosure. CGHC employs various tools such as administrative, physical and technical barriers in order to protect information stored at this site.
IDs and Passwords
To access online services, you will be required to use a user ID and a password. The user ID and password are the first step in establishing who you are. These systems are encrypted and kept confidential. Our employees do not have access to your password or legal digital signature. It is very important that you not share any user ID, passwords, and digital signatures with anyone or allow a computer to “remember” your password, particularly if you are using a computer with public access such as one located in a library. For additional security, you may be required to change your password from time to time.
Encryption and Security
Information provided via the website is submitted within a secure session. These sessions utilize Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology in order to ensure that the information is encrypted in transit.
Links to Other Web Sites
CGHC works with a number of other companies to ensure that we are providing the value and service you expect. Some of these companies offer “co-branded” products; others may be third parties who provide additional online products and services. These parties often have their own privacy policies, and may have online data collection policies that differ from ours. Although these parties should adopt and follow privacy procedures, CGHC is not responsible for third-party use of your personal information and CGHC’s Privacy Notice does not cover third-party information practices. For your protection, CGHC recommends that you review the privacy notices provided on third-party websites.
CGHC hopes our Privacy Notice will help you understand how CGHC collects and shares information. If you have any questions, please contact us. CGHC reserves the right to change this Privacy Notice, in whole or in part, by providing notice in accordance with applicable law.