Skip to main content

Online Privacy Statement

Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. d/b/a Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, “Horizon BCBSNJ”), is committed to safeguarding the personal information we receive from you when you interact with any of our mobile applications (“Apps”), websites and online services (“Services”). This Privacy Statement explains how we collect, use and share your personal information when you interact with our Services.

In some cases, the information we collect about you is subject to the requirements of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). If you are a Horizon BCBSNJ member and use the online member portal, that information is subject to HIPAA. In those circumstances, Horizon BCBSNJ's Notice of Privacy Practices (NOPP), and not this Privacy Statement, will apply. If you have questions about which policy applies in a certain situation, please contact us.

What Personal Information Is Collected

When you use our Services, Horizon BCBSNJ may collect information that directly or indirectly identifies you, including name, address, email address, telephone number and/or fax number. In addition, we may collect the following types of information:

Device Information - This includes information such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, hardware model or version, operating system, unique device identifiers, browser or application configurations, and mobile network information. We may also associate the information we collect from your different devices to help us provide consistent services across your devices. When you use our Services, we may also collect information about your physical location through your mobile device.

Log Information - We may record details of how you used our Services or how our Services performed, including page views and response times, clickstream data, information about how you navigate through our Services, and which website or application you came from before visiting our Services.

Performance Measurement - We may also collect other information related to the performance and effectiveness of our Services, including what emails, content and advertising were viewed, advertising data, real time monitoring of technical issues, wait times for customer service, feedback provided, responses to surveys you complete and other measurement information.

Use of Cookies and Similar Technologies - Horizon BCBSNJ uses cookies, beacons, application agents, pixels and other technologies to provide our Services, enhance your experience with our services, and to collect the information described above. Cookies are text files that are placed in your computer's browser. Web beacons and pixels are images that may be used with the Services or placed in emails we send you. We may include a web beacon in an email we send you for the purpose of counting the number of people who open the email.

Cookies are set by Horizon BCBSNJ, and we may also allow the placement of cookies or other storage technologies by third-parties, including Facebook, to collect or receive information from the Services and elsewhere on the Internet. These third parties may use the information collected to provide Horizon BCBSNJ measurement services or to deliver ads on their websites that are tailored to your interests.

You can decide if and how your computer will handle cookies by configuring your preferences or options in your browser or mobile device settings. However, if you choose to reject all cookies, the Services may not function properly or as desired. Visit youradchoices.com or optout.networkadvertising.org to learn more about how cookies are used in interest-based advertising or to opt-out of interest-based advertising.

Payment Card Data - For certain products, Horizon BCBSNJ may allow you to pay your premiums online. If you choose to use this feature, payment card details are securely collected and transmitted by a third party vendor for the sole purpose of processing payment. The payment vendor is responsible for securely storing such credit card details and for limiting access to authorized users.

How Personal Information is Used

In addition to the uses described above, Horizon BCBSNJ may also use the information collected through the Services to:

  • respond to your inquiries
  • operate our business
  • comply with the law or our policies
  • investigate or prevent fraud or security breaches
  • provide the products and services you request
  • administer your account
  • inform you about products and services that might be of interest to you

Any protected health information we may receive through the Services will be handled in accordance with HIPAA and our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.

Third Parties

We may share your personal information with entities not affiliated with Horizon BCBSNJ only as described in this Statement or as described in our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices, as applicable:

Service Providers - In addition to the information sharing described above, we may also disclose your personal information to businesses that Horizon BCBSNJ hires to perform services on our behalf, or to support our business operations (e.g., service providers who use cookies or other technologies on our behalf to help operate and measure our Services), and provide you with additional products and services. Service providers may only use your personal information, as instructed by Horizon BCBSNJ, to provide the services that Horizon BCBSNJ has contracted the businesses to perform.

Partners - We also partner with businesses that operate their own independently run websites, online services or Apps. This allows us to offer a wider array of services and features to Horizon BCBSNJ members. Unless stated otherwise, these services are not owned or operated by Horizon BCBSNJ and are used pursuant to that business's terms of service and privacy practices.

Advertising Networks - We may also use third-party advertising networks to serve advertisements on our behalf. The cookies received with the advertisements served by these networks may be used to collect and build behavioral profiles by these companies to deliver targeted advertisements on our websites and websites not affiliated with Horizon BCBSNJ. You can learn more about targeted advertising at youradchoices.com or optout.networkadvertising.org.

Legal or business purposes - We may also disclose your personal information to third parties, as allowed or required by law or to protect our interests, for purposes of:

  • complying with legal processes
  • responding to requests from public and government authorities
  • enforcing our terms and conditions, including investigations of potential violations
  • detecting, preventing or otherwise addressing fraud, security or technical issues
  • protecting our rights, privacy, safety or property, and to allow us to pursue available remedies
  • limiting the damages that we may sustain
  • in safety matters or in litigation where the data is pertinent
  • in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of company assets or other business activity in which a review or transfer of personal information is required

We may share non-identifiable or aggregate information with third parties for any lawful purpose.

Email

When you provide Horizon BCBSNJ or its contracted service providers with your email address, we may use it to:

  • administer or communicate with you about your account
  • send you information you request
  • communicate offers or updates about our products, programs and services
  • share information about healthcare management topic or about providers

You may also elect to receive other types of e-mail messages, including newsletters, alerts or notifications.

When you send email messages to the mailboxes listed on our websites, we will retain your message, email address and our response so that we can efficiently respond to your questions or issues. We also do this in an effort to comply with legal and regulatory requirements. Email is not always a secured method of transmitting information. Use judgment when sending information in an unsecured email via the Internet. You may always convey confidential, personal or sensitive information by calling the appropriate member service phone number that you will find under Contact Us.

Your Choices

Email - You can unsubscribe from Horizon BCBSNJ marketing emails by clicking the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each email. You may still receive administrative or transactional emails about your insurance coverage or policy.

SMS or text messaging – You may choose to sign up for a number of text messaging programs Horizon BCBSNJ may offer from time to time, including text notifications when documents are available on HorizonBlue.com, appointment or other reminders, or certain health and wellness programs. You can sign up for one or more programs in a number of ways, including through HorizonBlue.com. When you sign up for these programs, the SMS/Texting Terms and Conditions will apply.

You can opt-out of any text message program at any time either by changing your preferences by logging in to HorizonBlue.com or by replying STOP to the text message you received. If you reply STOP to a message, you will no longer receive messages for that program, but may still receive messages for other programs you signed up for. To review all of your text message preferences, please visit HorizonBlue.com.

Mobile Application Push Notifications – If you have elected to receive push notification for the Horizon BCBSNJ mobile applications, you can turn the notifications off at any time by adjusting the settings on your mobile device.

Device Location – You can opt-out of location services at any time by adjusting the settings on your mobile device. For information on location tracking on Horizon BCBSNJ apps, please refer to the Online Terms & Conditions.

Interest Based Advertising - You can opt-out of interest-based advertising by visiting aboutads.info/choices or networkadvertising.org/choices. You may still receive ads from Horizon BCBSNJ, but they will not be tailored to your specific interests.

Cookies - You can make choices about cookies through your browser's privacy settings. Remember, if you disable all cookies, some features or Services may not work properly.

Linking to Other Sites and In-App Services

For your convenience, we may provide links to other websites or applications. We do not control third-party websites or applications, and thus, are not responsible for their privacy practices.

Through our Apps, we may offer services that are provided and administered by third parties (3rd Party Services). Your use of the 3rd Party Services will be subject to the terms of use and privacy policies and practices of the third party.

Information Safeguards

We have implemented physical, electronic and procedural controls designed to safeguard your personal information. If you receive correspondence that appears to be from Horizon BCBSNJ, but contains typographical errors, grammatical mistakes or awkward wording, please proceed with caution, as this email may not actually be from Horizon BCBSNJ. We will never send you an email asking you to:

  • click on a link in an email to validate personal or account information.
  • open an email attachment.
  • download or run a program received via email.
  • reply to an email and provide personal information, such as social security number, member ID number or username/password to any account.
  • confirm or correct information as part of a system change or upgrade.
  • provide banking information to claim money won in a contest.
  • fill out a customer service survey in exchange for money.

If you receive an email with any of these requests, or any other suspicious content, do not respond. Please forward it immediately to abuse@horizonblue.com.

Personally Identifiable Information Collected through the ACA Marketplace

Horizon BCBSNJ representatives may collect certain personal information when assisting you in shopping or applying for individual health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act (the “Marketplace”).

We may collect personal information from you, including name, Social Security Number, date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, medical, educational, financial and/or employment information, phone number, home address and driver’s license number. We may also collect personal information from you about others for whom you are shopping or applying for health insurance coverage.

We collect this information pursuant to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its rules and regulations published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in connection with your interest in Horizon BCBSNJ health coverage options. Our representatives may use your personal information to:

  • assist you with the eligibility process and application for health coverage.
  • help you with enrolling in a Qualified Health Plan (QHP).
  • help you determine eligibility for exemptions from the requirement to maintain health coverage.

Horizon BCBSNJ representatives will help you enter your personal information into the Health Insurance Marketplace (the Marketplace) website application, or may enter the information on your behalf. We may retain the personal information you provide during these sessions, and will maintain and/or store that personal information in accordance with our privacy policies and procedures.

In addition, personal information that is provided to the Marketplace will be used by Marketplace representatives to:

  • determine your eligibility for health insurance coverage.
  • determine your eligibility for programs to lower costs of health coverage.
  • display your QHP options.

The Marketplace has privacy and security standards and procedures in place to protect your personal information. Please visit healthcare.gov/individual-privacy-act-statement to learn more about how the Marketplace handles your personal information.

You are not required to provide personal information to Horizon BCBSNJ or the Marketplace, but the assistance Horizon BCBSNJ representatives provide is only based on the information you and/or your authorized representative provide. If the information provided is inaccurate or incomplete, the Horizon BCBSNJ representative may not be able to provide you with information about health coverage options, help with the eligibility process and/or assist you with enrollment in a QHP.

Please visit healthcare.gov/individual-privacy-act-statement to learn about the effects of entering incomplete, inaccurate or fraudulent information into the Marketplace application.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Horizon BCBSNJ by calling our Privacy Office at 1-800-355-BLUE or you may file a complaint with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) by calling the Marketplace helpline at 1-800-318-2596.

Do Not Track

At this time, Horizon BCBSNJ is not able to honor Do Not Track signals, but you may adjust your browser settings to prevent cookies from being set.

Children

Horizon BCBSNJ Services are not intended for use or consumption by children under the age of 13.

Changes to this Online Privacy Statement

Evolving technology will provide us with new and better ways to serve your health coverage needs and we may change this Notice at any time and from time to time to reflect new privacy practices. This Statement is not intended to and does not create any contractual or other legal right in or on behalf of any party.

Questions

If you have questions about this Online Privacy Statement or our privacy practices, please contact us.

Last Updated: August 21, 2018