Privacy Policy

Personal Information (Including Social Security Number) Privacy Protection Policy

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield 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 and Blue Shield 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 and Blue Shield is committed to protecting the confidentiality of Social Security numbers and other Personal Information.

· Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’ Privacy Policy imposes a number of standards to:

· guard the confidentiality of Social Security numbers and other personal information,

· prohibit the unlawful disclosure of Social Security numbers, and

· limit access to Social Security numbers.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield 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 and Blue Shield Associates must only access Social Security numbers or personal information as required by their job duties. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield 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 and Blue Shield safeguards Social Security numbers and other personal information by having physical, technical, and administrative safeguards in place.

Contacting the Privacy Office
WellPoint'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 Officer
4361 Irwin Simpson Road
OH0101-C300
Mason, OH 45040

Welcome to Anthem’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. We will not sell your personally identifiable information without your express written permission.

HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

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 Blue Shield 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.

Contacting the Privacy Office

WellPoint'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:
2015 Staples Mills Road, Richmond VA 23230

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield 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 which applies to you, please contact your plan administrator through your employer's office

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Privacy Practices

What information will Anthem collect?

Information may be collected in two ways on our websites. You may elect to establish an account on our web sites so that you can gain additional access to on-line service applications, health tools, health information, subscriptions or other services where it is important for us to know who you are in order to best meet your needs. Personal information will not be collected from you without your knowledge. Providing personal information is always voluntary. Second, we may use “cookies” to help us improve our web site by tracking your navigation habits and to store some of your preferences. A cookie is a small file created by an Internet site to store information on your computer. Cookies do not allow web sites to gain access to other information on your computer. Once a cookie is saved on your computer, only the Web site that created the cookie can read it.

Linking to Other Sites

From time to time we will provide links to other web sites, not owned or controlled by Anthem. We do this because we think this information might be of interest or use to you or where, as a member, we can provide you with value added services. 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.

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

Providing personal information through Anthem's web site is an option. Additionally, personally identifiable information will not be collected from you without your knowledge and approval.

How will information collected about me be used?

Information you share with us will be used in a variety of ways that let us serve you better. We may also use this information to perform administrative, technical, hosting or other functions that help us manage our site and deliver new functionality to you.

Use of electronic mail

We may provide email links on our site to further facilitate communication between Anthem and you. Information collected through electronic mail may be shared with our customer service department, employees or other third parties that perform services on our behalf. Unless otherwise noted, electronic mail on our site 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. Therefore, we recommend that you contact us by phone using one of the numbers found on our web site or on your healthcare ID card whenever you are communicating personal information to us....

Consumer Privacy Protection Information

· FTC

· Identity Theft:

· California Office of Privacy Protection

· FTC Identity Theft

Changes to our Web Privacy Statement

The foregoing Web Privacy Statement is effective as of April 1, 2002. Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. may change this statement from time to time without notice. This statement is not intended to and does not create any contractual or other legal right in or on behalf of any party.

Again, we hope to make your on-line experience enjoyable and secure and thank you for taking the time to read this Privacy Statement.