Privacy practices and additional information
For your convenience, below are important forms and documents to help you easily manage your health coverage.
Privacy practices
- Notice of Privacy Practices describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.
- HIPAA Privacy Practices and Forms contains privacy information and documentation related to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
How to appoint a representative
You may designate someone, such as a relative, friend, lawyer, or anyone else, to file an appeal or grievance on your behalf. This is known as assigning an appointed representative. To do this you must:
- Download the Appointment of Representative Form. It can also be found on CMS's website
- Fill out the form. Both you and the person you are assigning to represent you must sign and date it.
- Send the form back to us at the address below:
Medicare Appeals Unit
P.O. Box 13652
Philadelphia, PA 19101-3652
You can call the Member Help Team to learn how to name your appointed representative or for assistance with filling out the form.
Sharing personal health care data
Your health care data lives in many places — with your health plan, doctor, pharmacy, and more. To help make better health care decisions, you may choose to use a third-party app or website to track and view everything in one place. Current Medicare Advantage members now have access to share their Independence health care data with a third-party app or website of their choice.
To connect your personal health information with a third-party app or website, you will need to provide an authorization to Independence. To provide authorization, you will use your Independence member site username and password. If you do not have access to the Independence member site, go to ibx.com to register and create a username and password.
The federal government created the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Interoperability and Patient Access API Rule to aid in this effort. The goal is to simplify the patient’s experience and provide better access to health care data (also known as personal health information).
Understanding data sharing
Your Independence personal health information that is available to share includes claims, encounter, prescription drug, and clinical data. Keep in mind that your shared personal health information cannot be limited and may include sensitive information about your past treatments. If you decide to share your personal health information with a third-party app or website, it is important to carefully review the third-party company’s privacy policy.
To learn more about the CMS ONC Interoperability and Patient Access API Rule, personal health information, and things to consider when choosing a third-party app or website, please review the Educational Materials — details about sharing your data.
How to get started
To get started, find a third-party app or website that has Independence as an available data-sharing vendor. Make sure to review the third-party app’s or website’s privacy policy to understand how they will use, maintain, and/or further disclose your information.
When you have chosen a third-party app or website, complete the following steps:
- Download the third-party app, or when available, use a third-party website.
- Connect your health care data by following the directions provided on the third-party app or website.
- Provide authorizations for Independence to share your health care data using your Independence member site username and password. During the authorization process, you must read, agree, and complete the following materials:
- View your health care data within the third-party app or website.
What happens next?
After you authorize sharing your personal health information, the process is complete. Data will be shared immediately with the third-party app or website. You will receive a confirmation email from Independence, and a signed version of the authorization documents will be saved on your Independence member site for your records. You will use the third-party app or website to view your shared health care data.
Data sharing will be available for up to 365 days after you provide authorization. You can revoke/stop data sharing access at any time. Simply log in at ibx.com and revoke access under “Account settings.” Or, contact our Member Help Team at the number on the back of your member ID card. Independence will stop sharing your data immediately and will not send any new data to the third-party app. You will receive a confirmation email.
Independence will not get your previously shared data back from the third-party app or website. You should contact the third-party app or website to request they delete your personal health information from the app. This will depend on the third-party app’s or website’s privacy policy.
For more information about sharing your health care data, read our frequently asked questions.
Benefits during disasters
In the event of a Presidential emergency declaration, a Presidential (major) disaster declaration, a declaration of emergency or disaster by a Governor, or an announcement of a public health emergency by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, but absent, or prior to the issuance of, a section 1135 waiver by the Secretary, Independence Blue Cross will:
- Allow beneficiaries to seek care at specified non-contracted facilities (note that Part A and Part B benefits must be furnished at Medicare certified facilities);
- Pay out of network claims, or claims where prior authorization was not obtained at the in-network benefit level;
- Allow members to seek care from non-network providers at the in-network benefit level;
- Waive the 30-day notification requirement to enrollees as long as all the changes (such as reduction of cost-sharing and waiving authorization) benefit the enrollee and;
- Lift refill-too-soon edits for Part D prescription drugs;
Typically, the source that declared the disaster will clarify when the disaster or emergency is over. If, however, the disaster or emergency timeframe has not been closed 30 days from the initial declaration, and if CMS has not indicated an end date to the disaster or emergency, Independence Blue Cross will resume normal operations 30 days from the initial declaration.
We strongly encourage our members to maintain care via all applicable means including telemedicine visits through Teladoc Health or telehealth visits. Learn more about telemedicine and telehealth visits though your IBX plan.
Notice of Availability of Language Assistance Services and Auxiliary Aids and Services and Notice of Nondiscrimination - updated 4/24/2025
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Website last updated: 7/2/2025