Privacy Policy

As a member of the NALC Health Benefit Plan, we feel it is important that you understand the Plan’s privacy policies. We are committed to protecting the privacy of our members’ information, and our privacy policy is based on the requirements of the HIPAA Final Rule. The HIPAA Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 originally went into effect in 2003. Click here to view our Notice of Privacy Practices effective September 23, 2013.

The Privacy Rule generally prohibits, as your health plan, from discussing your personal information with anyone other than you or someone you have designated as your “Authorized Representative”. Medical providers and health plans must share health care related information for the purposes of treatment, payment, and health care operations. We will not disclose protected health information of an enrollee or covered family member age 18 or older – not even to the person’s spouse, parent, child, or friend – unless we have a completed Authorized Representative form on file.

Each family member age 18 or older that wishes to name an authorized representative must complete a Authorized Representative form. Be sure to sign and date the form, Section E, and return the signed form to the Plan. You should complete or update this form if you have not done so in the past 2 years.

You are not required to complete a form, but if you are the enrollee or an adult family member (age 18 or older) covered by the Plan and we do not have the caller’s name on file as the authorized representative, we will not discuss your personal information, such as diagnoses and treatments, when someone calls on your behalf. You may want to name an authorized representative even if you usually handle your own claims inquiries. That way, whether you call or an authorized representative calls for you, we’ll be able to help.