Legal and Privacy

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX), a Division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, is pleased to offer this communication. It is meant to educate and inform. At the time it was sent, the information was accurate. However, it is possible that the information may become out of date due to frequent changes in laws that affect the health care industry, as well as other new regulations.

BCBSTX does not provide health care services or medical care. Any medical information found in this communication does not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please talk to your doctor if you have any questions about your health.

Also, BCBSTX does not offer financial or legal advice. Any legal or financial information found in this communication does not replace professional advice. If you have questions, call a professional.

Third Parties

BCBSTX may contract with external vendors to send email communications on our behalf. These email communications may contain links to external third-party websites that provide additional resources and information. Some of these websites are owned by BCBSTX, while others are either under contract with BCBSTX or totally independent. BCBSTX cannot verify or guarantee the accuracy of information, products or services found on the independent sites. These third parties may post terms of use and privacy statements, so be sure to read these statements so that you understand the terms.

Information Collected and Used

BCBSTX or one of our contracted third parties may collect electronic information about you when you are on one of these websites. BCBSTX will use this information solely for its own business purposes, but only as permitted by applicable law. Electronic information that the contracted third-parties collect on our behalf is not stored or retained by them, unless their Privacy Statement states otherwise.

Some examples of how we may use the electronic information collected includes:

• Tracking the resources that users access through the website
• Tracking what is viewed so we can customize information
• Recording statistics on user activity
• Troubleshooting website problems
• Tracking the website tools that are used

Use of Email

Please be careful when you send personal information in an email. Emails pass through private and public networks. These networks have different levels of security, and we cannot guarantee that your information will remain private.

How can you contact us?

• Members: For questions, call the number on the back of your health plan ID card. If you need to change your email address or other contact information, log in to Blue Access for Members^SM and change your account preferences.
• Brokers, Producers, Employers and Providers: For questions related to this communication and to change your email address or other contact information, email or call your assigned BCBSTX representative.
• Non-members: For questions related to this communication, visit our website.

Ownership and Copyright Protection

All right, title and interest in the content and other intellectual property (including trademarks, service marks and copyrights) in this communication are solely and exclusively the property of HCSC or its licensors, and are protected by intellectual property laws. Blue Cross^®, Blue Shield^® and the Cross and Shield symbols are registered service marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.

Code of Ethics and Conduct

BCBSTX is committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity as well as strict observance and compliance with the laws and regulations governing its business operations. BCBSTX has adopted a Code of Ethics and Conduct for our workers, as well as a Vendor Code of Ethics and Conduct for those vendors who conduct business with us and/or provide services to our customers.

Open Sans font license

Copyright 2010 Steve Matteson

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.