The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at http://www.hhs.gov/, of which the CMS COBSW is a part, has a clear privacy policy. When you access the COBSW, we collect the minimum amount of information about you necessary to manage your account. The authority for CMS to collect this information is Section 1862(b)(2) of the Social Security Act. For all websites under this policy, including the COBSW:
Please refer to https://www.hhs.gov/web/policies-and-standards/hhs-web-policies/privacy/index.html for further details.
Electronically submitted information is maintained and destroyed pursuant to the Federal Records Act and in some cases may be subject to the Privacy Act. The information collected through the COBSW will be stored within the following CMS Privacy Act systems of record, as appropriate: Workers' Comp Set-Aside File (09-70-0537), Medicare Beneficiary Database (09-70-0536), and the Common Working File (09-70-0526). These systems of record may be referenced by accessing the following: https://www.hhs.gov/foia/privacy/sorns/cms-sorns.html
The basic insurance data created internally to ensure that Medicare only makes primary claim payment when appropriate may be disclosed only as permitted by the routine use disclosure provisions outlined for each of the above systems of record. The HHS and CMS do not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about its visitors, unless required for law enforcement or statute.
The HHS privacy policy page, at https://www.hhs.gov/web/policies-and-standards/hhs-web-policies/privacy/index.html, includes more information on the HHS privacy program, personally identifiable information (PII), information automatically collected and stored, PII voluntarily submitted to HHS, and website security.