Privacy Statement

Welcome to Anthem Blue Cross’s web sites. We appreciate your interest in us and hope to make your on-line experience enjoyable and secure. Your privacy is very important to us and we will make every reasonable effort to safeguard any information we collect.  

 

Anthem Blue Cross maintains policies that protect the confidentiality of personal information, including Social Security numbers, obtained from its members and associates in the course of its regular business functions. Anthem Blue Cross is committed to protecting information about its customers and associates, especially the confidential nature of their personal information (PI).  

Personal Information is information that is capable of being associated with an individual through one or more identifiers including but not limited to, a Social Security number, a driver’s license number, a state identification card number, an account number, a credit or debit card number, a passport number, an alien registration number or a health insurance identification number, and does not include publicly available information that is lawfully made available to the general public from federal, state or local government records or widely distributed media. 

 

Anthem Blue Cross will not use or share Social Security numbers or personal information with anyone outside the company except when permitted or required by federal and state law. 

Anthem Blue Cross Associates must only access Social Security numbers or personal information as required by their job duties. Anthem Blue Cross has in place a minimum necessary policy which states that associates may only access, use or disclose Social Security numbers or personal information to complete a specific task and as allowed by law. 

Anthem Blue Cross safeguards Social Security numbers and other personal information by having physical, technical, and administrative safeguards in place. 

If you have questions regarding this policy, please contact Customer Service by dialing the number that is located on the back of your ID card. 

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule allows members the right to receive a notice that describes how individual health information may be used and/or disclosed and how to acquire access to this information. Anthem Blue Cross and its affiliated health plans are federally mandated to send a notice (Notice of Privacy Practices) to members of their fully insured health benefits plans. 

Anthem Blue Cross and its affiliated health plans have developed the following Notices of Privacy Practices based upon Federal and individual State regulations. Please select the appropriate link(s) below, as they apply to you. 

Please note: If you are a member of an Administrative Services only (ASO) group health plan, these notices do not apply to you. If you are not sure what applies to you, please contact your plan administrator through your employer's office.  

Anthem Blue Cross Privacy Practices  

Anthem Blue Cross Privacy Practices - Spanish  

Anthem's Privacy Office is available to answer privacy questions or for reporting privacy issues. You may contact the Privacy Office by calling the customer service number on the back of your ID card or write to us at the following address: 

Privacy Office: OH0101-C300 4361 Irwin Simpson Road, Mason, OH 45040
e-Mail Anthem’s Privacy Office: Privacy.Office@anthem.com  

Anthem is fully committed to the spirit and letter of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), including but not limited to the Privacy Rule that was issued pursuant to HIPAA. A major provision of the Privacy Rule is to safeguard sensitive, personal information about members. This information is referred to as Protected Health Information (PHI), and includes individually identifiable health care and demographic data.  

HIPAA allows Anthem to use and disclose certain member information for clearly defined treatment, payment and health care operations (TPO). However, members have the right to restrict the release of information about them beyond these uses. The Individual Authorization Form provides the means for members to identify who can see their PHI and what specific PHI can be seen for purposes other than TPO. If you need to have your PHI disclosed to someone outside of Anthem for purposes other than TPO, complete the form and submit it to your local Anthem office. This address is located on the back of your Anthem identification card. If you have questions, please contact your local customer service unit. The telephone number is on the back of your identification card.  

If you do not have an Anthem identification card, please contact us at 317-488-6000. 

Member Authorization Form  

Member Authorization Form (en Espaņol)  

The above link can only be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download a free copy by clicking here.  

We, including our affiliates or vendors, may call or text you using an automated telephone dialing system and/or a prerecorded message to any telephone numbers provided by you. Without limitation, these calls may be to let you know about treatment options or other health-related benefits and services.  

Your privacy is very important to us and we will make every reasonable effort to safeguard any information we collect. 

What information will Anthem collect? 

Information may be collected in the following ways on this mobile channel: 

 

How will information collected about me be used? 

Any personal information that you provide through this mobile channel is used for the purpose for which you provide it. For example, if you use location services to find a provider near your current location, your location is used only to facilitate that function. We may also gather quantitative user information, such as the number of users and the pages or data accessed, in order to perform administrative, technical, hosting or other functions that help us manage our mobile channel and deliver new functionality to you. Anthem does not sell, license, transmit or disclose personal information that you provide to us outside of Anthem and its affiliated companies except with the following exceptions: 

 

What if I don’t want information about me to be collected? 

Providing personal information through this mobile channel is an option. Additionally, personally identifiable information will not be collected from you without your knowledge and approval. 

“Do Not Track” Signals 

We do not respond to web browser “do not track” signals. As such, your navigation of our site may be tracked as part of the gathering of quantitative user information described above. If you arrive at our website by way of a link from a third party site that does respond to “do not track” requests, the recognition of any “do not track” request you have initiated will end as soon as you reach our site. 

Linking to Other Sites 

From time to time we will provide links to web sites not owned or controlled by Anthem. We do this because we think this information might be of interest or use to you. While we do our best to ensure your privacy, we cannot be responsible for the privacy practices of other sites. A link to a non-Anthem web site does not constitute or imply endorsement by Anthem. Additionally, we cannot guarantee the quality or accuracy of information presented on non-Anthem web sites. We encourage you to review the privacy practices of any web site you visit. 

Use of electronic mail 

We may provide email links through our mobile channel to further facilitate communication between us and you. Information collected through electronic mail may be shared with our customer service department, employees or third parties that perform services on our behalf. Unless otherwise noted, electronic mail through our mobile channel is not a completely secure and confidential means of communication. Non-encrypted electronic communications may be accessed and viewed by other Internet users without your knowledge and permission while in transit to us.  

We may share your information with health information exchanges. Electronic health information exchanges allow health care providers to view and share your health information quickly and easily — for treatment, payment or health care operations.  

Health information exchanges can improve the speed, quality, safety and cost of your care. It’s also a great way to help make sure you get the right medication, and you don’t get the same tests more than once if you don’t need to. Doctors, health insurers and others using an exchange like this are required to follow the privacy and security standards set by U. S. and state laws.  

California. In California, we’re taking part in a health information exchange called Cal INDEX. If you’re a member living in California, you’re automatically enrolled. Only participating doctors who are treating you will have access to your health records. If you or your dependents do not wish to have your health information made available on Cal INDEX, please fill out the online form at www.calindex.org/opt-out. Or you can call Cal INDEX at 1-888-510-7142.  

If you have questions regarding this policy or if you would like to review or change any of your personal information we have on file, please contact Customer Service by dialing the number on the back of your ID card. 

This privacy statement is effective January 1, 2014 and was most recently revised January 1, 2015. This privacy statement is subject to change. We encourage you to review it from time to time.