Health Insurance Portability and Accountability

This memo is to inform you of a federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), which requires health plans to protect the confidentiality of your private health information. We are pleased to let you know that many of the company practices are already in compliance with these privacy rules. A complete description of your rights under HIPAA can be found in the Plan’s Privacy Notice, (see second attachment), and in the Human Resources Policy and Procedure Manual.

The company will not use or further disclose information that is protected by HIPAA (“protected health information”) except as necessary for treatment, payment, health plan operations and plan administration, or as permitted or required by law. By law, the company has required all of its business associates to also observe HIPAA’s privacy rules. In particular, the company will not, without authorization, use or disclose protected health information for employment-related actions and decisions or in connection with any other benefit or employee benefit plan of the company .

Under HIPAA, you have certain rights with respect to your protected health information, including certain rights to see and copy the information, receive an accounting of certain disclosures of the information and, under certain circumstances, amend the information. You also have the right to file a complaint with the Plan or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your rights under HIPAA have been violated.

The company maintains a Privacy Notice, as follows, which provides a complete description of your rights under HIPAA’s privacy rules. If you have questions about the privacy of your health information, would like another copy of the Privacy Notice, or wish to file a complaint under HIPAA, please contact name of company contact.