Associated Insurance Plans International, Inc., is very sensitive to privacy issues. We respect your right to privacy and feel it is important for you to know how we handle the information we receive from you via the Internet. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal and state regulations (HIPAA) to protect your personal information.
Associated Insurance Plans International, Inc. has taken steps to make all information received from our online visitors as secure as possible against unauthorized access and use. All information is protected by our security measures, which are periodically reviewed. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of information that we have collected from you at our site.
Please know that if you send us an e-mail communication using any of the e-mail links on our site, it may be shared with a Customer Service Representative, Claims Representative, employee or agent that is most able to address your inquiry. Once we have responded to your communication, it may be discarded or archived, depending on the nature of the inquiry.
You should also know that unless otherwise noted, the e-mail functionality on our site does not provide a completely secure and confidential means of communication. It is possible that your e-mail communication may be accessed or viewed by another Internet user while in transit to us. If you wish to keep your information private, you should not use e-mail. Instead, you should contact us at 800-452-5772.
This notice is being sent to you to ensure our compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Columbian Financial Group supports the effort to protect patient confidentiality and the security of individual health information.
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.
This notice is effective April 13, 2003.
Statement of Our Duties
We are committed to maintaining the privacy of your personal health information and complying with all state and federal privacy laws. The purpose of this Privacy Notice is to inform you of our privacy practices and legal duties. We are required to:
We reserve the right to change our information practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Revised notices will be provided to you by mail.
Statement of Your Rights
You have a right to know how we may use or disclose your personal health information. This notice informs you of those uses and disclosures. There are certain uses and disclosures of your personal health information that we are permitted or required to make by law without your permission. For all other uses and disclosures, we first must obtain your permission. In addition, you have the following rights:
Information We Collect About You
We collect the following categories of information about you from the following sources:
Permissible Uses and Disclosures of Protected Information
To Carry Out Treatment Functions. We may use or disclose your health information without your permission in order for health care providers to provide you with treatment. (For Example: The provision, coordination, or management of health care and related services by health care providers; Consultation between health care providers relating to a patient/customer; The referral of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.)
To Carry Out Certain Operations Relating to Your Benefits Plan. We also may use or disclose your protected health information without your permission to carry out certain limited activities relating to your health insurance benefits, including reviewing the competence or qualification of health care professionals, conducting quality assessment activities, amending, replacing or adding benefits, and placing contracts for stop-loss insurance or reinsurance.
In Situations Permitted or Required by Law. We also may use or disclose your protected health information without your written permission for other purposes permitted or required by law, including the following:
For Purposes For Which We Have Obtained Your Written Permission. All other uses or disclosures of your protected health information will be made only with your written permission, and any permission that you give us may be revoked by you at any time.
Complaint About Misuse of Health Information
You may complain either directly to us or to the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe that your rights with respect to our protection of your health information have been violated. You may file a complaint with us by submitting a complaint in writing to the address shown in Section 8 that includes as many details (such as names and dates) as possible. You will not be retaliated against in any way for filing a complaint.
Our Practices Regarding Confidentiality and Security
We restrict access to nonpublic personal information about you to those employees who need to know that information in order to provide products or services to you. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information.
Our Policy Regarding Dispute Resolution
Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to our privacy policy, or the breach thereof, shall be settled by arbitration in Broome County, NY, in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association, and judgement upon the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court have jurisdiction thereof.
Contact Person For Filing Complaint or Obtaining Further Information
If you have any questions or complaints, please contact:
Administrator:
Student Assurance Services, Inc.
HIPAA Privacy Officer
333 North Main Street
PO Box 196
Stillwater, MN 55082
Phone: 1-651-439-7098
Email: info@sas-mn.com
Columbian Financial Group refers to:
Columbian Life Insurance Company
Home Office: Chicago, IL
Administrative Service Office:
Binghamton, NY
HIPAA Privacy Officer
4704 Vestal Parkway East
Binghamton, NY 13902
Phone: 1-607-724-2472
Or
Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Company
HIPAA Privacy Officer
4704 Vestal Parkway East
Binghamton, NY 13902
Phone: 1-607-724-2472