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Effective Date of Notice: April 14, 2003
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 Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) provides and pays for many types of
health care services. We also determine persons’ eligibility to receive those services.
When we do these things, we collect personal and health information about you and/or
your family. The information we collect about you and/or your family is private. We call
this information “protected health information.”
PID is required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information and to
provide individuals with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to
your protected health information.
PID does not use or disclose protected health information unless permitted or required by
law. PID must follow new laws protecting the privacy of your protected health
information. These new laws are known as the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules. When we do use or disclose protected health
information, we will make every reasonable effort to limit its use or disclosure to the
minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose. This notice explains your right
to privacy of your protected health information and how we may use and disclose that
information. For more information on PID privacy practices, or to receive another copy
of this notice, please contact us. For information on how to contact us, see the
“Questions or Complaints” section on page 4 of this notice.
PID is by law required to follow the terms of this notice. We reserve the right to change
this notice. If we make an important change in our privacy policies or procedures, we
will provide you with a new privacy notice either by mail or in person.
What is Protected Health Information?
Protected health information is information about you that relates to a past,