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.

This Privacy Notice applies to the Fund Office of the Local 30 Engineers Welfare Trust Fund (the "Fund"), and the services that the Fund provides through MagnaCare, Empire, HealthPlex, Advance PCS, General Vision, Davis Vision and other business associates of the Fund.  The Fund's insurers and HMOs will send you a notice of their privacy practices separately.

Effective date: The effective date of this Notice is April 14, 2003.

This Notice is required by law.  The Fund is required by law to take reasonable steps to ensure the privacy of your personally identifiable health information and to inform you about:

1. The Fund's uses and disclosures of Protected Health Information (PHI),
2. Your rights to privacy with respect to your PHI,
3. The Fund's duties with respect to your PHI,
4. Your right to file a complaint with the Fund and with the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and
5. The person or office you should contact for further information about the Fund's privacy practices. 

Protected Health Information (PHI) Defined

The term "Protected Health Information" (PHI) includes all individually identifiable health information related to your past, present or future physical or mental health condition or to payment for health care.  PHI includes information maintained by the Fund in oral, written, or electronic form.

When the Fund May Disclose Your PHI

Under the law, the Fund may disclose your PHI without your consent or authorization, or the opportunity to agree or object, in the following cases:

• At your request.  If you request it, the Fund is required to give you access to certain PHI in order to allow you to inspect and/or copy it.
• When required by applicable law.
• As required by HHS.  The Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services may require the disclosure of your PHI to investigate or determine the Fund's compliance with the privacy regulations.
• Public health purposes.  To an authorized public health authority if required by law or for public health and safety purposes.  PHI may also be used or disclosed if you have been exposed to a communicable disease or are at risk of spreading a disease or condition, if authorized by law.
• Domestic violence or abuse situations.  When authorized by law to report information about abuse, neglect or domestic violence to public authorities if a reasonable belief exists that you may be a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence.  In such case, the Fund will promptly inform you that such a disclosure has been or will be made unless that notice would cause a risk of serious harm.
• Health oversight activities.  To a health oversight agency for oversight activities authorized by law.  These activities include civil, administrative or criminal investigations, inspections, licensure or disciplinary actions (for example, to investigate complaints against health care providers) and other activities necessary for appropriate oversight of government benefit programs (for example, to the Department of Labor).
• Legal proceedings.  When required for judicial or administrative proceedings.  For example, your PHI may be disclosed in response to a subpoena or discovery request that is accompanied by a court order.
• Law enforcement health purposes.  When required for law enforcement purposes (for example, to report certain types of wounds).
• Law enforcement emergency purposes.   For certain law enforcement purposes, including:
1. identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person, and
2. disclosing information about an individual who is or is suspected to be a victim of a crime
• Determining cause of death and organ donation.  When required to be given to a coroner or medical examiner to identify a deceased person, determine a cause of death or other authorized duties.  We may also disclose PHI for cadaveric organ, eye or tissue donation purposes.
• Funeral purposes.  When required to be given to funeral directors to carry out their duties with respect to the decedent.
• Research.  For research, subject to certain conditions.
• Health or safety threats.  When, consistent with applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, the Fund in good faith believes the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public and the disclosure is to a person reasonably able to prevent or lessen the threat, including the target of the threat.
• Workers' compensation programs.  When authorized by and to the extent necessary to comply with workers' compensation or other similar programs established by law.
• For treatment, payment or health care operations.  The Fund and its business associates will use PHI in order to carry out:  
  1. Treatment
  2. Payment, or
  3. Health care operations
  
  Treatment is the provision, coordination, or management of health care and related services.  It also includes but is not limited to consultations and referrals between one or more of your providers.  
  
  For example, the Fund may disclose to a treating orthodontist the name of your treating dentist so that the orthodontist may ask for your dental x-rays from the treating dentist.
  
  Payment includes but is not limited to actions to make coverage determinations and payment (including billing, claims management, subrogation, plan reimbursement, reviews for medical necessity and appropriateness of care and utilization review and preauthorizations).
  
  For example, the Fund may tell a doctor whether you are eligible for coverage or what percentage of the bill will be paid by the Fund.  If we contract with third parties to help us with payment operations, such as a physician that reviews medical claims, we will also disclose information to them.  These third parties are known as "business associates."
  
  Health care operations includes but is not limited to quality assessment and improvement, reviewing competence or qualifications of health care professionals, underwriting, premium rating and other insurance activities relating to creating or renewing insurance contracts.  It also includes disease management, case management, conducting or arranging for medical review, legal services, and auditing functions including fraud and abuse compliance programs, business planning and development, business management and general administrative activities.
  
  For example the Fund may use information about your claims to refer to into a disease management program, a well-pregnancy program, project future benefit costs or audit the accuracy of its claims processing functions.
  
• Disclosure to the Fund's Trustees.  The Fund will also disclose PHI to the Plan Sponsor, the Board of Trustees of the Local 30 Engineers Welfare Trust Fund, for purposes related to treatment, payment, and health care operations, and has amended the Summary Plan Description to permit this use and disclosure as required by federal law.  For example, we may disclose information to the Board of Trustees to allow them to decide an appeal or review a subrogation claim.
  
  In addition, the Fund may disclose "summary health information" to the Board of Trustees for obtaining premium bids or modifying, amending or terminating the Fund's group health plan.  Summary information summarizes the claims history, claims expenses or type of claims experience by individuals for whom a Plan Sponsor such as the Board of Trustees has provided health benefits under a group health plan.  Identifying information will be deleted from summary health information, in accordance with federal privacy rules.

Except as otherwise indicated in this notice, uses and disclosures will be made only with your written authorization subject to your right to revoke your authorization.

When the Disclosure of Your PHI Requires Your Written Authorization

Although the Fund does not routinely obtain psychotherapy notes, it must generally obtain your written authorization before the Fund will use or disclose psychotherapy notes about you.  However, the Fund may use and disclose such notes when needed by the Fund to defend itself against litigation filed by you.

Psychotherapy notes are separately filed notes about your conversations with your mental health professional during a counseling session.  They do not include summary information about your mental health treatment.

When You Can Object and Prevent the Fund from Using or Disclosing PHI

Disclosure of your PHI to family members, other relatives, your close personal friends, and any other person you choose is allowed under federal law if:

• The information is directly relevant to the family or friend's involvement with your care or payment for that care, and
• You have either agreed to the disclosure or have been given an opportunity to object and have not objected.

Other Uses or Disclosures

The Fund may contact you to provide you information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.

Section 3: Your Individual Privacy Rights

You May Request Restrictions on PHI Uses and Disclosures

You may request the Fund to:

1. Restrict the uses and disclosures of your PHI to carry out treatment, payment or health care operations, or
2. Restrict uses and disclosures to family members, relatives, friends or other persons identified by you who are involved in your care.

The Fund, however, is not required to agree to your request.

You or your personal representative will be required to complete a form to request restrictions on uses and disclosures of your PHI.  Make such requests to:

Privacy Official
Local 30 Engineers Welfare Trust Fund
115-10 Myrtle Avenue
Richmond Hill, NY  11418
(718) 847-6800

You May Request Confidential Communications

The Fund will accommodate an individual's reasonable request to receive communications of PHI by alternative means or at alternative locations where the request includes a statement that disclosure could endanger the individual.

You or your personal representative will be required to complete a form to request restrictions on uses and disclosures of your PHI.  Make such requests to the Fund's Privacy Official.

You May Inspect and Copy PHI

You have a right inspect and obtain a copy of your PHI contained in a "designed record set", for as long as the Fund maintains the PHI.

The Fund must provide the requested information within 30 days if the information is maintained on site or within 60 days if the information is maintained on site or within 60 days if the information is maintained offsite.  A single 30-day extension is allowed if the Fund is unable to comply with the deadline.

You or your personal representative will be required to complete a form to request access to the PHI in your designated record set. A reasonable fee may be charged.  Requests for access to PHI should be made to the Fund's Privacy Official.

If access is denied, you or your personal representative will be provided with a written denial setting forth the basis for the denial, a description of how you may exercise your review rights and a description of how you may complain to Fund and HHS.

Designated Record Set: includes your medical records and billing records that are maintained by or for a covered health care provider.  Records include enrollment, payment, billing, claims adjudication and case or medical management record systems maintained by or for a health plan or other information used in whole or in part by or for the covered entity to make decisions about you.  Information used for quality control or peer review analyses and not used to make decisions about you is not included.

You Have the Right to Amend Your PHI

You have the right to request that the Fund amend your PHI or a record about you in a designated record set for as long as the PHI is maintained in the designated record set subject to certain exceptions.  See the Fund's Right to Amend Policy (available on request from the Fund's Privacy Official) for a list of exceptions.

The Fund has 60 days after receiving your request to act on it.  The Fund is allowed a single 30-day extension if the Fund is unable to comply with the 60-day  deadline.  If the Fund denied your request in whole or part, the Fund must provide you with a written denial that explains the basis for the decision.  You or your personal representative may then submit a written statement disagreeing with the denial and have that statement included with any future disclosures of that PHI.

You should make your request to amend PHI to the Fund's Privacy Official.  You or your personal representative will be required to complete a form to request amendment of the PHI.

You Have the Right to Receive an Accounting of the Fund's PHI Disclosures

At your request, the Fund will also provide you with an accounting of certain disclosures by the Fund of your PHI.  We do not have to provide you with an accounting of disclosures related to treatment, payment, or health care operations, or disclosures made to you or authorized by you in writing.  See the Fund's Accounting for Disclosure Policy (available on request from the Fund's Privacy Official) for the complete list of disclosures for which an accounting is not required.

The Fund has 60 days to provide the accounting.  The Fund is allowed an additional 30 days if the Fund gives you a written statement of the reasons for the delay and the date by which the accounting will be provided.

If you request more than one accounting within a 12-month period, the Fund will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for each subsequent accounting.

You Have the Right to Receive a Paper Copy of This Notice Upon Request

To obtain a paper copy of this Notice, contact the Fund's Privacy Official (contact information above).

Your Personal Representative

You may exercise your rights through a personal representative.  Your personal representative will be required to produce evidence of authority to act on your behalf before the personal representative will be given access to your PHI or be allowed to take any action for you.  Proof of such authority will be a completed, signed and approved Appointment of Personal Representative form.  You may obtain this form by calling the Fund Office.

The Fund retains discretion to deny access to your PHI to a personal representative to provide protection to those vulnerable people who depend on others to exercise their rights under these rules and who may be subject to abuse or neglect.

The Fund will recognize certain individuals as personal representatives without you having to complete an Appointment of Personal Representative form.  For example, the Fund will automatically consider a spouse to be the personal representative of an individual covered by the plan.  In addition, the Fund will consider a parent or guardian as the personal representative of a dependent covered child unless applicable law requires otherwise.  A spouse of a parent may act on an individual's behalf, including requesting access to their PHI.  Spouses and unemancipated minors may, however, request that the Fund restrict information that goes to family members as described above at the beginning of Section 3 of this Notice.

You should also review the Fund's Policy and Procedure for the Recognition of Personal Representatives (available upon request from the Fund's Privacy Official) for a more complete description of the circumstances where the Fund will automatically consider an individual to be a personal representative for purposes of exercising your rights under this Privacy Notice.

Section 4: The Fund's Duties

Maintaining Your Privacy

The Fund is required by law to maintain the privacy of your PHI and to provide you and your eligible dependents with notice of its legal duties and privacy practices.

This notice is effective beginning on April 14, 2003 and the Fund is required to comply with the terms of this notice.  However, the Fund reserves the right to change its privacy practices and to apply the changes to any PHI received or maintained by the Fund prior to that date.  If a privacy practice is changed, a revised version of this notice will be provided to you and to all past and present participants and beneficiaries for whom the Fund still maintains PHI.

The Privacy Notice will be provided via first class mail to all named participants.  Any other person, including dependents of named participants, may receive a copy upon request.

Any revised version of this notice will be distributed within 60 days of the effective date of any material change to:

1. The uses or disclosures of PHI,

2. Your individual rights,

3. The duties of the Fund, or

4. Other privacy practices stated in this notice.

Disclosing Only the Minimum Necessary Protected Health Information

When using or disclosing PHI or when requesting PHI from another covered entity, the Fund will make reasonable efforts not to use, disclose or request more than the minimum amount of PHI necessary to accomplish the intended purpose of the use, disclosure or request, taking into consideration practical and technological limitations.

However, the minimum necessary standard will not apply in the following situations:

1. Disclosures to or requests by a health care provider for treatment,
2. Uses or disclosures made to you,
3. Disclosures made to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to its enforcement activities under HIPAA,
4. Uses or disclosures required by law, and
5. Uses or disclosures required for the Fund's compliance with the HIPAA privacy regulations.

This notice does not apply to information that has been de-identified.  De-identified information is information that:

1. Does not identify you, and
2. With respect to which there is no reasonable basis to believe that the information can be used to identify you.

Section 5: Your Right to File a Complaint with the Fund or the HHS Secretary

If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the Fund in care of the following Privacy Official (contact information above).

You may also file a complaint with:

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201

The Fund will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Section 6: If You Need More Information

If you have any questions regarding this notice or the subjects addressed in it, you may contact the Privacy Official at the Fund Office.

Section 7: Conclusion

PHI use and disclosure by the Fund is regulated by the federal Health Insurance Portabiilty and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA.  You may find these rules at 45 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 160 and 164.  This notice attempts to summarize the regulations.  The regulations will supercede this notice if there is any discrepancy between the information in this notice and the regulations.