HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

STATE GROUP INSURANCE PROGRAM

Notice of Privacy Practices

revised 2/16/2026

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

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.

 

YOUR  RIGHTS

You have the right to: 

  • Request assistance with getting a copy of your health and claims records
  • Request assistance with correcting your health and claims records
  • Request confidential communication
  • Ask us to limit the information we share
  • Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
  • Get a copy of this privacy notice
  • Choose someone to act for you
  • File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

 

YOUR  CHOICES

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we: 

  • Answer coverage questions from your family and friends
  • Provide disaster relief

 

OUR  USES  AND  DISCLOSURES

We may use and share your information as we: 

  • Help manage the healthcare treatment you receive
  • Run our organization
  • Pay for your health services
  • Administer your health plan
  • Help with public health and safety issues
  • Do research
  • Comply with the law
  • Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner or funeral director
  • Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
  • Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

YOUR  RIGHTS

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights.  This brochure explains your rights and some of our responsibilities.

Get a copy of health and claims records

  • You can ask to see or get a copy of your protected health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
  • We will assist you with obtaining a copy or a summary of your health and claims records, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct health and claims records

  • You can ask us to correct your health and claims records if you think they are incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
  • We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

  • You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
  • We will consider all reasonable requests and must say “yes” if you tell us you would be in danger if we do not.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

  • You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment or our operations.
  • We are not required to agree to your request and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

  • You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with and why.
  • We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, healthcare operations and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

  • You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

Choose someone to act for you

  • If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
  • We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

  • You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information in this brochure.
  • You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 877.696.6775, or visiting hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
  • We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

 

YOUR  CHOICES

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

  • Share information with your family, close friends or others involved in payment for your care.
  • Share information in a disaster relief situation.

 

OUR  USES  AND  DISCLOSURES

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways. 

Help manage the healthcare treatment you receive.

  • We can use your health information and share it with professionals who are treating you.

Run our organization

  • We can use and disclose your information to run our organization and contact you when necessary.
  • We are not allowed to use genetic information to decide whether we will give you coverage and the price of that coverage. This does not apply to long-term care plans.

Pay for your health services

  • We can use and disclose your health information as we pay for your health services.

Example: We share information about you with your dental plan to coordinate payment for your dental work.

Administer your plan

  • We may disclose your health information to your health plan sponsor for plan administration.

Example: Your company contracts with us to provide a health plan, and we provide your company with certain statistics to explain the premiums we charge.

Substance Use Disorder Records

The Plan will not receive any Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment records unless you give consent to your provider. If the Plan does receive SUD records from programs covered by 42 CFR Part 2, they will be used or disclosed like your other medical information, with the same protections. However, SUD records and any testimony about SUD records will not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings unless you provide written consent to the Plan or a court orders the Plan to do it.

If you consent for your information to be shared, the person or organization receiving it may share it again. If that happens, it may no longer be protected under HIPAA .

 

HOW  ELSE  WE  CAN  USE  OR  SHARE YOUR  HEALTH  INFORMATION 

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways — usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.

Help with public health and safety issues
We can share health information about you for certain situations such as: 

  • Preventing disease.
  • Helping with product recalls (for example, pacemaker).
  • Reporting adverse reactions to medications.
  • Reporting suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence.
  • Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.

Do research

  • We can use or share your information for health research.

Comply with the law

  • We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner or funeral director

  • We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
  • We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner or funeral director when an individual dies.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement and other government requests

We can use or share health information about you:

  • For workers’ compensation claims.
  • For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official.
  • With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law.
  • For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services.

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

 

OUR  RESPONSIBILITIES

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information. 

  • We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
  • We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
  • We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see: hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.

 

CHANGES  TO  THE  TERMS  OF  THIS  NOTICE

The State Group Insurance Program must follow the privacy practices contained in this notice from its effective date of April 14, 2003, as amended on November 1, 2016, until this notice is changed or replaced.

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, on our website at tn.gov/finance and we will mail a copy to you.

 

MORE INFORMATION

If you want more information concerning the state group insurance programs’ privacy practices or have questions or concerns, please contact the privacy office at 866.252.1523 or email benefits.privacy@tn.gov