PRIVACY NOTICE

The PURPOSE OF THIS NOTICE

This Notice is designed to help you understand what kind of information Preferred Global Health Ltd. of Canon’s Court, 22 Victoria Street, Hamilton HM 12, Bermuda and its subsidiaries (“PGH”) collects in connection with our products and services and how we will process and use this information. In the course of providing you with products and services we will collect and process information that is commonly known as personal data. Under applicable European data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation and all other supplemental and other laws governing data security and data protection in the European Economic Area, UK and Switzerland (the “European Data Privacy Laws”), PGH is a data controller. Although the PGH servicing subsidiary is located in the US, which has a lower standard of data protection laws compared to the Data Privacy Laws, it adheres to The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, HIPAA. In Summary, the HIPAA Privacy Rule was issued to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive Personal Health Information, PHI. It seeks to protect the privacy of patients by requiring Hospitals, Doctors and other Health Care Service Providers (Providers) to provide patients with an account of each entity to which the Provider of services discloses PHI for billing and administrative purposes, while still allowing relevant health information to flow through the proper channels. Furthermore, it provides federal standards to safeguard the privacy of PHI and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information, including rights to examine and obtain a copy of their health records and to request corrections. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) oversees compliance with HIPAA privacy requirements.

This Notice describes how we collect, use, share, retain and safeguard personal data.

This Notice sets out your individual rights; we explain these later in the Notice but in summary these rights include your right to know what data is held about you, how this data is processed and how you can place restrictions on the use of your data.

Please read carefully. Effective date 18 July 2018.

Your Personal Information

The information we hold about you includes the following categories of information:

  • Your name, contact details and payment information
  • Your medical information
  • Details about your insurance policy and claims records

The sources of this information are:

  • You
  • Our partners

All the personal information we collect from you or generated by you is used to provide the services you have requested or for communications to which you have subscribed. We will safeguard the privacy and security of your personal data, including your medical and health data, as required under applicable laws including the European Data Privacy Laws. You may also consent to us using your personal information for additional purposes not described in this Notice. We will not use your personal information for these additional purposes without your consent. You have the right to tell us that you do not want to be contacted by us for these additional purposes any time after you initially provide your consent. 

We are also permitted to process your personal information to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations and/or our contractual obligations to you to provide the services to you and to manage any technical issues or support requests that may arise.

We do not allow any third parties to have access to your personal information, except as required or permitted by applicable laws or in accordance with the Notice. We may disclose your personal information to our subcontractors, agents, or payment service providers (who may be located in the US) that we contract with to assist us in providing the services, provided that any such subcontractors or agents adhere to HIPAA or shall agree in writing to comply with the privacy and security standards described in this Notice.

There may be instances when we disclose your personal information to other parties:

  • to comply with the law or respond to compulsory legal process (such as a search warrant or court order) or request for information from a regulator or otherwise for legal purposes;
  • to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing the services; or
  • to protect the rights, property or safety of PGH, or any of our respective affiliates, business partners, or customers or otherwise in the legitimate business interests of PGH and/or our affiliates and in accordance with European Data Privacy Laws.

We may share your personal information with other entities in connection with the sale, assignment, merger or other transfer of all or a portion of PGH’s business to that other entity.

PGH understands that storing data in a secure manner is essential. PGH stores personal information and other data using reasonable physical, technical and administrative safeguards to secure data against foreseeable risks, such as unauthorized use, access, disclosure, destruction or modification. Although we make good faith efforts to store the information we collect in a secure operating environment that is not available to the public, we cannot guarantee complete security. Further, while we work to ensure the integrity and security of our network and systems, we cannot guarantee that our security measures will prevent third-party "hackers" from illegally obtaining this information.

We retain your personal data relating to our services for the duration of our business relationship and for seven years after the policy has expired for legal, regulatory, audit and tax requirements. After this period has expired, the personal information relating to your policy will be deleted or de-identified.  Any personal information which you have provided to us for marketing purposes will be kept until you notify us that you no longer wish to receive this information. 

Your Rights

Subject to applicable European Data Privacy Laws, you have the right to:

  • Receive a copy of your health and claims records and your other information
  • Correct your health and claims records or other information about you
  • Request confidential communication
  • Ask us to limit the information we share
  • Ask us to delete your information
  • Receive a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
  • Select a third party to act for you
  • Ask for a copy of your information to be provided to a third-party
  • File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated including, under applicable European Data Privacy Laws, with a supervisory authority in your country of residence.

Your Choices

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

  • Answer coverage questions from your family and friends
  • Market our services

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information with third-parties as we:

  • Help manage the health care treatment you receive
  • Run our organization
  • Pay for your health services
  • Administer your health plan
  • Help with public health and safety issues
  • Conduct research
  • Comply with the law
  • Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner or funeral director
  • Address law enforcement and other government requests
  • Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

Your Rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you. These rights are, where applicable, subject to laws including the European Data Privacy Laws.

Receive a copy of health and claims records

  • You can request to see or receive a copy of your health and claims records and other health or personal information that we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
  • We will provide a copy or a summary of your health and claims records, usually within 30 days of your request.
  • You can ask us to provide a copy of your records to a third-party where permitted under applicable European Data Privacy Laws.

Ask us to correct health and claims records

  • You can ask us to correct your health and claims records or other personal information if you think they are incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
  • We may say “no” to your request, where permitted under applicable laws including the European Data Privacy Laws, but we’ll inform you of the reasoning in writing within 60 days (or sooner if required under the European Data Privacy Laws).

Request confidential communications

  • You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
  • We will consider all reasonable requests, and must say “yes” if you specify that you would otherwise be in danger if we do not comply.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

  • You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations or to object to the processing of your personal information or ask that it is restricted.
  • We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.

Ask for your personal information to be deleted

  • You can, where permitted and to the extent required under applicable European Data Privacy Laws, ask for your personal information to be deleted.
  • We may need to retain some of your personal information for our legal or contractual requirements and to the extent permitted under European Data Privacy Laws.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

  • You can request a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why
  • We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make) unless required under applicable European Data Privacy Laws.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

  • You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

Select a third party to act for you

  • If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
  • We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

File a complaint if you feel your rights have been violated

  • You can file a complaint if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us by email or phone. Any concerns or complaints should be emailed to Privacy@pghworld.com.
  • Under applicable European Data Privacy Laws, you also have the right to make a complaint to the supervisory authority in your country of residence.
  • You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
  • We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

  • Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in payment for your care

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

  • Marketing purposes

Our Uses and Disclosures

How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

Help manage the health care treatment you receive

We can use your health information and share it with professionals who are treating you.

Example: A doctor sends us information about your diagnosis and treatment plan so we can arrange additional services.

Run our organization

  • We can use and disclose your information to run our organization and contact you when necessary.
  • We are not allowed to use genetic information to determine whether you will receive coverage and the price of that coverage. This does not apply to long term care plans.

Example: We use health information about you to develop better services for you.

Pay for your health services

We can use and disclose your health information to PC/PHCC insurers and the insurers’ reinsurers to pay for your health services.

Example: We share information about you with your insurer to coordinate payment for your medical expenses.

Protecting your Data

We will take all appropriate technical and organisational steps to protect the confidentiality, integrity, availability and authenticity of your data, including when sharing your data within our company and authorised third parties.

How else can we use or share your health information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.

Help with public health and safety issues

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

  • Preventing disease
  • Helping with product recalls
  • Reporting adverse reactions to medications
  • Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
  • Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Conduct research

We can use or share your information for health research.

Comply with the law

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it. This includes the Department of Health and Human Services, if they want to confirm that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner or funeral director

  • We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
  • We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

Address law enforcement and other government requests

We can use or share health information about you:

  • For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
  • With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
  • For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Uses or Disclosures (Sharing) of Information that Require Your Written Permission (Authorization)

Using and/or disclosing health information for other purposes not described in this Notice requires your specific authorization. For example, unless you give your authorization, PGH may not sell your health information or disclose such information in exchange for payment to a third party for purposes of marketing their products or services to you. Furthermore, certain information that may be contained in your medical record is considered by state and/or federal law to be highly confidential, including, for example, HIV testing or test results, certain clinical psychotherapy documentation, and certain genetic information; therefore, this type of information gets additional protection from disclosure, and, at times requires your written authorization even before disclosure for treatment, payment, or health care operations. If you are asked to and give written authorization for the use and/or disclosure of your health information, you may withdraw such authorization at any time in writing or, in certain limited cases, orally, except to the extent that the providers have already acted upon your previously provided authorization.

International transfers of personal data

We will process and transfer your data to third parties based in the US and other jurisdictions outside the European Economic Area and UK that may also have less stringent data privacy laws compared to the European Data Privacy Laws. This is necessary for the purposes of administering our business and underwriting and claims processing purposes. Such parties are not permitted to use your personal data for any other purpose than for what has been agreed with us. These parties are also required to safeguard your personal data through the use of appropriate technical and organizational data security measures and are prohibited from disclosing or sharing your data with other third parties without our prior authorization, or unless as required by law.

Please contact Privacy@pghworld.com for a list of countries and organizations your personal data is transferred to and/or for further information on the measures undertaken to safeguard your data.

Our Responsibilities

  • We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
  • We will let you know within 72 hours if a breach occurs that is likely to create a high risk for your privacy or security.
  • We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy
  • We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

Right to Erasure

You have the right to request from PGH the erasure of personal data concerning yourself without undue delay. We shall have the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies:

  • The personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed;
  • You withdraw consent and where there is no other legal ground for processing;
  • You object to the processing pursuant to Article 21(1) and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing, or you object to the processing pursuant to Article 21(2);
  • The personal data have been unlawfully processed;
  • The personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation in Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject;
  • The personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services referred to in Article 8(1).

For more information see:

www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html
http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-5419-2016-INIT/en/pdf

Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice at any time and without prior notice to you, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, on our web site, and we will mail a copy to you.