OHA Privacy & Security

Your privacy is important to us, and maintaining your trust is one of our top priorities. We take great care to protect the information you share with OHA. This policy describes the types of personal information OHA collects, how we use it and the steps we take to safeguard this information and your confidentiality. Each time you provide personal information to OHA, it is used only in accordance with this privacy policy. “Personal information” refers to the identifying information of an individual including but not limited to name, address, phone number, email, date of birth and Social Security number.

This website is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. OHA recognizes the online privacy protections afforded to children under the age of 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from children through this website.

By submitting personal information to us or by using this website, you agree that we can collect, use and disclose such personal information in accordance with this privacy policy or as permitted or required by law. By agreeing to this privacy policy, you also agree to provide information that is accurate, not misleading, and free of any damaging content. If you do not agree to these terms, you should not provide us with your personal information.

• Why we collect information

We collect personal information to help people apply for, evaluate and purchase health coverage, as well as to help people apply for financial assistance paying for coverage. As such, we ask not only for information such as names and contact information, but for a lot of other information as well. We use this information to make determining your qualification for coverage easier, allowing us to provide you with the services you request.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and related federal regulation (45 CFR 155.260) authorize the collection and use of personal information. This information is required in order to enroll in a health plan through OHA. While your responses are voluntary and you can decline to provide information, your failure to provide the requested information may result in you not being able to use our online services.

• How we use the information you provide

When we collect, use and/or share personal information, it is only used for specific purposes related to applying for coverage and helping people find assistance through OHA. OHA does not collect any personal information about you unless you – or someone authorized to act on your behalf – voluntarily provides that information to OHA. Unless you provide explicit permission, the information you provide to OHA is never used for any purpose other than to apply for health insurance, see if you qualify for health coverage or financial assistance and for research purposes, such as evaluating the quality of our service; it will not be disclosed to any unauthorized parties.
You will be notified via email if your personal information is to be used in a different manner than stated at the time of collection, and you will have a choice to opt out.

• When we share your personal information

We may share your information with another agency in order to administer financial assistance programs, verify your eligibility to benefits and/or coverage or coordinate with other state and federal agencies.
We only share your personal information for health coverage purposes unless we are compelled to disclose your information in accordance with state or federal laws, or at the request of an authorized agency such as the Department of Homeland Security.
If you check the box indicating that you want to register to vote, we will share your information with the Secretary of State to the extent the information is required to register. Agreeing to or declining to register will not affect the services or benefits you receive by applying through OHA. OHA does not share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

We work hard to protect the OHA website from unauthorized access, alteration or destruction of the information we hold. We protect all personally identifiable information with operational, administrative, technical and physical safeguards to ensure its confidentiality, integrity and availability, and to prevent unauthorized or inappropriate access, use or disclosure. In particular, all information provided through online OHA forms or secure messaging is encrypted during transmission.

We have also implemented policies and procedures to restrict access to personal information to authorized individuals only. We keep all personal information in a physically secure environment.

You have the right to access and obtain any personally identifiable information you’ve provided to us in a readable format. You may also dispute any of your personally identifiable information that you believe is incorrect. We will either correct all information that is not accurate, or, if your request for a correction is denied, we will document the request and reasons for denial. You may use OHA’s features, offerings and content for lawful purposes only, and you are solely responsible for all content you submit through OHA’s website.

OHA will not use any personal information collected for any reason other than as allowed by 45 CFR 155.260. Tax return information—and information from other federal and state sources—must be kept confidential and used only in accordance with applying for health coverage and financial assistance for health coverage. Any person who knowingly and willfully uses or shares information in violation of Section 1411(g) of the ACA will be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 per person or entity, per use or disclosure, in addition to other penalties that may be prescribed by law.

Under a federal regulation (42 CFR 435.910), you must provide the Social Security number of anyone in your household—including yourself—who has a Social Security number and applies for health coverage or premium tax credits. OHA uses Social Security numbers to check identity, citizenship, alien status and income, as well as to prevent fraud and verify health care claims. Social Security numbers are also used along with other federal and state agencies to manage our programs and follow the law. Again, this enables us to provide you with the services you request.

We take appropriate steps to ensure that all personally identifiable information is complete, accurate and up to date to the extent necessary for its intended purposes. If your personally identifiable information changes, you should update your contact information with us.

Under federal law, discrimination isn’t permitted on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

A cookie is a small text file created by a Web server and stored on your computer hard drive. Cookies save unique information that the Web server can access while you are browsing our website. Typically, cookies save information such as your site preferences, the date you last looked at a specific page, or a random number used to identify your particular Web session. Cookies help us measure how many visitors come to our website and how many of these visitors are new or returning.

Cookies placed on your computer by the OHA Web management tools are written so they can only be used by our Web tools, and they only retrieve specific information. We do not gather information from you, from other cookie files, or access any other information on your computer. Most Web browsers allow you to deny or accept the cookie feature (refer to your browser's help function for details). You can control the use of cookies on your computer, and even eliminate them. However, eliminating cookie use may interfere with the function of some Oregon.gov website services.

Our privacy policy may change from time to time. We will post any privacy policy changes to the OregonHealthCare.gov website. If the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice. If you have any questions or concerns about any of the information provided in this privacy policy, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-699-9075.