Our Privacy Policy

This notice explains how Health Plans of North Carolina may collect, use and share your information. Please read it carefully and contact Health Plans of NC, (704) 436-4120, if you have any questions.

Why did you give me this notice?

We are legally required to give you this notice by applicable law and our agreement with the federal government.

We respect your personal information and want you to fully understand how I/we may use and share your information.

What information will you ask me to give you?

We must collect certain information about you, called Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) in order to help you complete your application for health insurance. PII is information that can be used to identify you or trace your identity.

These are a few examples of PII. This is not a complete list.

  • name, address, date of birth, telephone number
  • social security number
  • household income, marital status
  • race or ethnicity
  • credit or debit card numbers

Will you share my information with anyone?

We may only share your information as described in this notice.

We may share your information with certain Federal or State agencies, the health insurance issuer that you select or subcontractors that help me/us to provide services to you.

We must get your permission to share your information for any other purpose that is not described in this notice.

What happens if I don’t share my information with you?

If you do not want to share your information, you may not be able to enroll in a health insurance plan.

Will you keep my information safe?

Yes. We are required to keep your information safe. We have developed privacy and security policies that we must follow to make sure that we protect your PII.

Health Plans of North Carolina Inc. (“we” or “us”) recognize that you care how information about you is collected and used. We have created this Privacy Policy to inform you of our information collection, use and sharing practices for this Web site.

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected]

What information do we collect and how is it used?

Information You Voluntarily Provide

For purposes of this Privacy Policy, “Personal Information” is information that you provide to us that may be used to identify you, such as your full name, physical address, email address, or phone number. We do not collect Personal Information through this Web site unless you voluntarily submit it. The information we collect that you provide to us may include, but is not limited to: names, business names, addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, account ID numbers and passwords, credit card numbers and expiration dates, billing addresses, information regarding orders, information regarding your business, products and services, and demographic information. This information is used to complete transactions and provide the information, products and services that you have ordered or requested, and for administrative and analytical purposes. In addition, Personal Information may be used to contact you (by telephone, regular mail, email, facsimile or other means) to answer your questions or respond to your comments, to send you information about our products and services, to provide emails, newsletters and other communications, to conduct market research, and to ensure compliance with our policies and applicable laws and regulations. When you opt not to receive emails or newsletters from us, we collect and store certain Personal Information, such as your email address, in order to comply with your preferences regarding such materials.

Information We Automatically Collect

Like many Web sites, we use “cookies” and other tracking technologies to collect certain non-Personal Information automatically whenever you visit this Web site. Information we collect through the use of cookies and other tracking technologies may include your IP address, computer location (but not street address), browser information, operating system type, and dates and times you accessed the Web site. We may also collect information regarding traffic patterns and site usage. This information may be used to analyze and improve this Web site and our other services, and for planning, marketing or promotional purposes.

With both cookies and other tracking technology, the information we collect does not contain your name, address, telephone number, or email address. We do not use the information to contact you or to permit any third-party to contact you. We do not generally link the information we collect through the use of cookies and tracking technologies to Personal Information you submit. However, we reserve the right to use information collected in this manner to identify a Web site visitor if we reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent, detect or prosecute fraudulent or criminal activity, to enforce the policies of this Web site, to protect us, our customers and business partners, or to protect this Web site or its visitors.

Is information collected from children?

This Web site is not intended for use by children under 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, you should not use this Web site and should not submit any information of any kind to us.

With whom do you share information?

We do not share with third parties any Personal Information you provide to us through this Web site except with your consent or as described in this Privacy Policy.

We engage third parties to perform services in connection with the operation of our business. Examples of these services include, but are not limited to, hosting and maintenance of this and other Web sites, payment processing and authorization, fraud protection and credit risk reduction, management of customer accounts, product customization, order processing and fulfillment, domain administration, email services, marketing and promotional activities, legal services, data storage and recovery, maintaining mailing lists, Web site evaluation, data analysis, and data cleansing. We may provide Personal Information to these third parties if such Personal Information is required to perform services on our behalf. We may also share Personal Information with our marketing partners.

We, or those with whom we have shared information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, may release Personal Information and/or non-Personal Information if we believe in good faith that: the law or legal process requires it; we have received a valid administrative request from a law enforcement agency; or such release is necessary or advisable to prevent, detect, or prosecute fraudulent or criminal activity, to protect the rights, property or safety of us, our customers, our business partners, our Web Site visitors, or others.

We may share non-Personal Information with others from time to time. Examples of such non-Personal Information include the number of users who visited this Web site during a specific time period and the general geographic location of visitors. This information is shared in an aggregate form.

We reserve the right to transfer any information we have about you, including Personal Information, in connection with the sale or transfer of all or a portion of our business or assets to a third party such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Can I indicate my preferences for receiving communications?

If you want to opt-out of receiving certain communications from us, please contact us at [email protected]

How will I be informed about changes to this Privacy Policy?

Our Web site will continue to evolve to bring you new features and services and to implement technological advances. As a result, we may change this Privacy Policy from time to time without prior notice. Revised versions of this Privacy Policy will be posted on this Web site, together with an updated effective date. In some cases, we may also send an email notifying users of the changes. You should check this Web site periodically to see if any recent changes to this Privacy Policy have occurred. By continuing to use this Web site after we post any such changes, you accept the Privacy Policy as modified.