Your Privacy and Disclaimers

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

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.

Language Assistance Services and Alternate Formats

This information is available in other formats like large print. To ask for another format, please call (713) 442-0000.

ATTENTION: If you speak English, language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you. Please call (713) 442-0000.

ATENCIÓN: Si habla español (Spanish), hay servicios de asistencia de idiomas, sin cargo, a su disposición. Llame al (713) 442-0000.

請注意：如果您說中文 (Chinese)，我們免費為您提供語言協助服務。請致電：(713) 442-0000.

XIN LƯU Ý: Nếu quý vị nói tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), quý vị sẽ được cung cấp dịch vụ trợ giúp về ngôn ngữ miễn phí. Vui lòng gọi (713) 442-0000.

알림: 한국어 (Korean) 를 사용하시는 경우 언어 지원 서비스를 무료로 이용하실 수 있습니다. (713) 442-0000 번으로 전화하십시오.

PAUNAWA: Kung nagsasalita ka ng Tagalog (Tagalog), may makukuha kang mga libreng serbisyo ng tulong sa wika. Mangyaring tumawag sa (713) 442-0000.

ВНИМАНИЕ: бесплатные услуги перевода доступны для людей, чей родной язык является русском (Russian). Позвоните по номеру (713) 442-0000.

تنبيه: إذا كنت تتحدث العربية (Arabic)، فإن خدمات المساعدة اللغوية المجانية متاحة لك. الرجاء الأتصال بـ (713) 442-0000.

ATANSYON: Si w pale Kreyòl ayisyen (Haitian Creole), ou kapab benefisye sèvis ki gratis pou ede w nan lang pa w. Tanpri rele nan (713) 442-0000.

ATTENTION : Si vous parlez français (French), des services d’aide linguistique vous sont proposés gratuitement. Veuillez appeler le (713) 442-0000.

UWAGA: Jeżeli mówisz po polsku (Polish), udostępniliśmy darmowe usługi tłumacza. Prosimy zadzwonić pod numer (713) 442-0000.

ATENÇÃO: Se você fala português (Portuguese), contate o serviço de assistência de idiomas gratuito. Ligue para (713) 442-0000.

ATTENZIONE: in caso la lingua parlata sia l’italiano (Italian), sono disponibili servizi di assistenza linguistica gratuiti. Si prega di chiamare il numero (713) 442-0000.

ACHTUNG: Falls Sie Deutsch (German) sprechen, stehen Ihnen kostenlos sprachliche Hilfsdienstleistungen zur Verfügung. Rufen Sie (713) 442-0000 an.

注意事項：日本語 (Japanese) を話される場合、無料の言語支援サービスをご利用いただけます。(713) 442-0000 にお電話ください。

توجه: اگر زبان شما فارسی (Farsi) است، خدمات امداد زبانی به طور رایگان در اختیار شما می باشد.
(713) 442-0000. تماس بگیرید.

कृपा ध्यान दें: यदि आप हिंदी (Hindi) भाषी हैं तो आपके लिए भाषा सहायता सेवाएं नि:शुल्क उपलब्ध हैं। कृपा पर काल करें (713) 442-0000.

CEEB TOOM: Yog koj hais Lus Hmoob (Hmong), muaj kev pab txhais lus pub dawb rau koj. Thov hu rau (713) 442-0000.

ចំណាប់អារម្មណ៍ៈ បើសិនអ្នកនិយាយភាសាខ្មែរ(Khmer)សេវាជំនួយភាសាដោយឥតគិតថ្លៃ គឺមានសំរាប់អ្នក។ សូមទូរស័ព្ទ ទៅលេខ (713) 442-0000.

PAKDAAR: Nu saritaem ti Ilocano (Ilocano), ti serbisyo para ti baddang ti lengguahe nga awanan bayadna, ket sidadaan para kenyam. Maidawat nga awagan iti (713) 442-0000.

DÍÍ BAA'ÁKONÍNÍZIN: Diné (Navajo) bizaad bee yániłti'go, saad bee áka'anída'awo'ígíí, t'áá jíík'eh, bee ná'ahóót'i'. T'áá shoodí kohjį' (713) 442-0000 hodíilnih.

OGOW: Haddii aad ku hadasho Soomaali (Somali), adeegyada taageerada luqadda, oo bilaash ah, ayaad heli kartaa. Fadlan wac (713) 442-0000.

 

Nondiscrimination Notice and Access to Communication Services

Kelsey-Seybold and Kelsey-Seybold affiliated entities do not discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race, color, national origin, or disability.

Free services are available to help you communicate with us. Such as, letters in other languages, or in other formats like large print. Or, you can ask for an interpreter. To ask for help, please call (713) 442-0000.

If you think you weren’t treated fairly because of your sex, age, race, color, national origin, or disability, you can send a complaint to:

Optum Civil Rights Coordinator
11000 Optum Circle
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Fax: 855-351-5495
Email: Optum_Civil_Rights@Optum.com

If you need help with your complaint, please call (713) 442-0000. You must send the complaint within 60 days of when you found out about the issue.

You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human services.

Online https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf
Complaint forms are available at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/complaints/index.html .

Phone: Toll-free 1-800-368-1019, 800-537-7697 (TDD)

Mail: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. 200 Independence Avenue, SW Room 509F, HHH Building Washington, D.C. 20201

 

Medical Information Privacy Notice

Effective May 8, 2023

We¹ are required by law to protect the privacy of your health information. We are also required to send you this notice, which explains how we may use information about you and when we can give out or "disclose" that information to others. You also have rights regarding your health information that are described in this notice. We are required by law to abide by the terms of this notice.

The terms "information" or "health information" in this notice include any information we maintain that reasonably can be used to identify you and that relates to your physical or mental health condition, the provision of health care to you, or the payment for such health care. We will comply with the requirements of applicable privacy laws related to notifying you in the event of a breach of your health information.

We have the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this notice. If we make a material change to our privacy practices, we will provide to you, in our next annual distribution, either a revised notice or information about the material change and how to obtain a revised notice. We will provide you with this information either by direct mail or electronically, in accordance with applicable law. In all cases, if we maintain a website for your particular health plan, we will post the revised notice on your health plan website, www.kelseycareadvantage.com. We reserve the right to make any revised or changed notice effective for information we already have and for information that we receive in the future.

UnitedHealth Group collects and maintains oral, written and electronic information to administer our business and to provide products, services and information of importance to our enrollees. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural security safeguards in the handling and maintenance of our enrollees’ information, in accordance with applicable state and federal standards, to protect against risks such as loss, destruction or misuse.

 

How We Collect, Use, and Disclose Information

We collect, use, and disclose your health information to provide that information:

• To you or someone who has the legal right to act for you (your personal representative) in order to administer your rights as described in this notice; and
• To the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, if necessary, to make sure your privacy is protected.

We have the right to collect, use, and disclose health information for your treatment, to pay for your health care and to operate our business. For example, we may collect, use and disclose your health information:

• For Payment of premiums due us, to determine your coverage, and to process claims for health care services you receive, including for subrogation (when permitted by applicable law) or coordination of other benefits you may have. For example, we may tell a doctor whether you are eligible for coverage and what percentage of the bill may be covered.
• For Treatment. We may collect, use, and disclose health information to aid in your treatment or the coordination of your care. For example, we may collect information from, or disclose information to, your physicians or hospitals to help them provide medical care to you.
• For Health Care Operations. We may collect, use, and disclose health information as necessary to operate and manage our business activities related to providing and managing your health care coverage. For example, we might talk to your physician to suggest a disease management or wellness program that could help improve your health or we may analyze data to determine how we can improve our services. We may also de-identify health information in accordance with applicable laws. After that information is de-identified, the information is no longer subject to this notice and we may use the information for any lawful purpose.
• To Provide You Information on Health-Related Programs or Products such as alternative medical treatments and programs or about health-related products and services, subject to limits imposed by law.
• For Plan Sponsors. If your coverage is through an employer sponsored group health plan, we may share summary health information and enrollment and disenrollment information with the plan sponsor. In addition, we may share other health information with the plan sponsor for plan administration purposes if the plan sponsor agrees to special restrictions on its use and disclosure of the information in accordance with federal law.
• For Underwriting Purposes. We may collect, use, and disclose your health information for underwriting purposes; however, we will not use or disclose your genetic information for such purposes.
• For Reminders. We may collect, use, and disclose health information to send you reminders about your benefits or care, such as appointment reminders with providers who provide medical care to you.
• For Communications to You. We may communicate, electronically or via telephone, these treatment, payment or health care operation messages using telephone numbers or email addresses you provide to us.

We may collect, use, and disclose your health information for the following purposes under limited circumstances:

• As Required by Law. We may disclose information when required to do so by law.
• To Persons Involved with Your Care. We may collect, use, and disclose your health information to a person involved in your care or who helps pay for your care, such as a family member, when you are incapacitated or in an emergency, or when you agree or fail to object when given the opportunity. If you are unavailable or unable to object, we will use our best judgment to decide if the disclosure is in your best interests. Special rules apply regarding when we may disclose health information to family members and others involved in a deceased individual’s care. We may disclose health information to any persons involved, prior to the death, in the care or payment for care of a deceased individual, unless we are aware that doing so would be inconsistent with a preference previously expressed by the deceased.
• For Public Health Activities such as reporting or preventing disease outbreaks to a public health authority.
• For Reporting Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence to government authorities that are authorized by law to receive such information, including a social service or protective service agency.
• For Health Oversight Activities to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as licensure, governmental audits and fraud and abuse investigations.
• For Judicial or Administrative Proceedings such as in response to a court order, search warrant or subpoena.
• For Law Enforcement Purposes. We may disclose your health information to a law enforcement official for purposes such as providing limited information to locate a missing person or report a crime.
• To Avoid a Serious Threat to Health or Safety to you, another person, or the public, by, for example, disclosing information to public health agencies or law enforcement authorities, or in the event of an emergency or natural disaster.
• For Specialized Government Functions such as military and veteran activities, national security and intelligence activities, and the protective services for the President and others.
• For Workers' Compensation as authorized by, or to the extent necessary to comply with, state workers compensation laws that govern job-related injuries or illness.
• For Research Purposes such as research related to the evaluation of certain treatments or the prevention of disease or disability, if the research study meets federal privacy law requirements.
• To Provide Information Regarding Decedents. We may disclose information to a coroner or medical examiner to identify a deceased person, determine a cause of death, or as authorized by law. We may also disclose information to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.
• For Organ Procurement Purposes. We may collect, use, and disclose information to entities that handle procurement, banking or transplantation of organs, eyes or tissue to facilitate donation and transplantation.
• To Correctional Institutions or Law Enforcement Officials if you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law enforcement official, but only if necessary (1) for the institution to provide you with health care; (2) to protect your health and safety or the health and safety of others; or (3) for the safety and security of the correctional institution.
• To Business Associates that perform functions on our behalf or provide us with services if the information is necessary for such functions or services. Our business associates are required, under contract with us and pursuant to federal law, to protect the privacy of your information and are not allowed to collect, use, and disclose any information other than as specified in our contract and as permitted by federal law.
• Additional Restrictions on Use and Disclosure. Certain federal and state laws may require special privacy protections that restrict the use and disclosure of certain health information, including highly confidential information about you. Such laws may protect the following types of information:
  1. Alcohol and Substance Abuse
  2. Biometric Information
  3. Child or Adult Abuse or Neglect, including Sexual Assault
  4. Communicable Diseases
  5. Genetic Information
  6. HIV/AIDS
  7. Mental Health
  8. Minors' Information
  9. Prescriptions
  10. Reproductive Health
  11. Sexually Transmitted Diseases

If a use or disclosure of health information described above in this notice is prohibited or materially limited by other laws that apply to us, it is our intent to meet the requirements of the more stringent law.

Except for uses and disclosures described and limited as set forth in this notice, we will use and disclose your health information only with a written authorization from you. This includes, except for limited circumstances allowed by federal privacy law, not using or disclosing psychotherapy notes about you, selling your health information to others, or using or disclosing your health information for certain promotional communications that are prohibited marketing communications under federal law, without your written authorization. Once you give us authorization to release your health information, we cannot guarantee that the recipient to whom the information is provided will not disclose the information. You may take back or "revoke" your written authorization at any time in writing, except if we have already acted based on your authorization. To find out where to mail your written authorization and how to revoke an authorization, contact the phone number listed on your health plan ID card.

 

What Are Your Rights

The following are your rights with respect to your health information:

• You have the right to ask to restrict uses or disclosures of your information for treatment, payment, or health care operations. You also have the right to ask to restrict disclosures to family members or to others who are involved in your health care or payment for your health care. We may also have policies on dependent access that authorize your dependents to request certain restrictions. Please note that while we will try to honor your request and will permit requests consistent with our policies, we are not required to agree to any restriction.
• You have the right to ask to receive confidential communications of information in a different manner or at a different place (for example, by sending information to a P.O. Box instead of your home address). We will accommodate reasonable requests in accordance with applicable state and federal law. In certain circumstances, we will accept your verbal request to receive confidential communications, however; we may also require you confirm your request in writing. In addition, any requests to modify or cancel a previous confidential communication request must be made in writing. Mail your request to the address listed below.
• You have the right to see and obtain a copy of certain health information we maintain about you such as claims and case or medical management records. If we maintain your health information electronically, you will have the right to request that we send a copy of your health information in an electronic format to you. You can also request that we provide a copy of your information to a third party that you identify. In some cases, you may receive a summary of this health information. You must make a written request to inspect and copy your health information or have your information sent to a third party. Mail your request to the address listed below. In certain limited circumstances, we may deny your request to inspect and copy your health information. If we deny your request, you may have the right to have the denial reviewed. We may charge a reasonable fee for any copies.
• You have the right to ask to amend certain health information we maintain about you such as claims and case or medical management records, if you believe the health information about you is wrong or incomplete. Your request must be in writing and provide the reasons for the requested amendment. Mail your request to the address listed below. If we deny your request, you may have a statement of your disagreement added to your health information.
• You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures of your information made by us during the six years prior to your request. This accounting will not include disclosures of information made: (i) for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes; (ii) to you or pursuant to your authorization; and (iii) to correctional institutions or law enforcement officials; and (iv) other disclosures for which federal law does not require us to provide an accounting.
• You have the right to a paper copy of this notice. You may ask for a copy of this notice at any time. Even if you have agreed to receive this notice electronically, you are still entitled to a paper copy of this notice. If we maintain a website, we will post a copy of the revised notice on our website. You may also obtain a copy of this notice on your website, www.kelseycareadvantage.com.
• You have the right to make a written request that we correct or amend your personal information. Depending on your state of domicile, you may have the right to request deletion of your personal information. If we are unable to honor your request, we will notify you of our decision. If we deny your request, you have the right to submit to us a written statement of the reasons for your disagreement with our assessment of the disputed information and what you consider to be the correct information. We will make your statement accessible to parties reviewing the information in dispute.

Exercising Your Rights

• Contacting your Health Plan. If you have any questions about this notice or want information about exercising your rights, please call the toll-free member phone number on your health plan ID card or you may contact 1-866-535-8343.
• Submitting a Written Request. You can mail your written requests to exercise any of your rights, including modifying or cancelling a confidential communication, requesting copies of your records, or requesting amendments to your record, to us at the following address:
  
  Privacy Administrator
  KS Plan Administrators LLC
  11511 Shadow Creek Parkway
  Pearland, TX 77584
  
• Timing. We will respond to your telephonic or written request within 30 business days of receipt.
• Filing a Complaint. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us at the address listed above.

You may also notify the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of your complaint. We will not take any action against you for filing a complaint.

 

Financial Information Privacy Notice

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW FINANCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Effective January 1, 2023

We² are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your personal financial information. For the purposes of this notice, “personal financial information” means information about an enrollee or an applicant for health care coverage that identifies the individual, is not generally publicly available, and is collected from the individual or is obtained in connection with providing health care coverage to the individual.

Information We Collect

Depending upon the product or service you have with us, we may collect personal financial information about you from the following sources:

• Information we receive from you on applications or other forms, such as name, address, age, medical information and Social Security number;
• Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates or others, such as premium payment and claims history; and
• Information from a consumer reporting agency.

Disclosure of Information

We do not disclose personal financial information about our enrollees or former enrollees to any third party, except as required or permitted by law. For example, in the course of our general business practices, we may, as permitted by law, disclose any of the personal financial information that we collect about you, without your authorization, to the following types of institutions:

• To our corporate affiliates, which include financial service providers, such as other insurers, and non-financial companies, such as data processors;
• To nonaffiliated companies for our everyday business purposes, such as to process your transactions, maintain your account(s), or respond to court orders and legal investigations; and
• To nonaffiliated companies that perform services for us, including sending promotional communications on our behalf.

Confidentiality and Security

We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards, in accordance with applicable state and federal standards, to protect your personal financial information against risks such as loss, destruction or misuse. These measures include computer safeguards, secured files and buildings, and restrictions on who may access your personal financial information.

Marketing Disclosure

KelseyCare Advantage, a product of KS Plan Administrators, LLC, is an HMO and POS Medicare Advantage plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in KelseyCare Advantage depends on contract renewal. This information is not a complete description of benefits. Call for more information: prospective members, call 713-442-5646 (TTY: 711), October 1 – March 31, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. CT, seven days a week; or April 1 – September 30, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday. Medicare beneficiaries may also enroll in KelseyCare Advantage online at /enroll or through the CMS Medicare Online Enrollment Center located at http://medicare.gov. Limitations, copayments, and restrictions may apply. **You must continue to pay your Medicare Part B premium. †$0 deductible applies to tiers 1, 2, and 6, formulary insulins, and formulary vaccines only. Benefits, premiums, and/or copayments/coinsurance may change on January 1 of each year. The formulary, pharmacy network, and/or provider network may change at any time. You will receive notice when necessary. All benefits are not available on all plans. Based on publicly disclosed provider directories of competitor contracts. Every year, Medicare evaluates plans based on a 5-Star rating system. Out-of-network/non-contracted providers are under no obligation to treat KelseyCare Advantage members, except in emergency situations. Please call our customer service number or see your Evidence of Coverage for more information, including the cost-sharing that applies to out-of-network services. For accommodation of persons with special needs at meetings, call 713-442-5646 (TTY: 711). The One Pass™ program varies by plan/area and includes a standard fitness membership. Access to gym and fitness location network may vary by location and plan. © 2024 KelseyCare Advantage. All rights reserved.

Questions About this Notice

If you have any questions about this notice, please call Kelsey Care Advantage at 1-866-535-8343.