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Legal information

Terms and conditions

Welcome to ibx.com/medicare, the Independence Blue Cross (Independence) Medicare website — ibx.com/medicare (the “Site”). Independence provides its website to you subject to the following Terms and Conditions (the “Terms and Conditions”). The Terms and Conditions govern your use of the Site and by accessing or using the material on the Site, you indicate that you understand and agree to the following provisions:

1. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE

Independence provides its website to you, subject to the following Terms and Conditions, which may be updated by us at any time and without notice. Unless stated otherwise, changes will be effective when they are posted. You can review the most current version of the Terms and Conditions at any time by clicking on the link entitled “Legal Information” located on our home page. You will also see links to our Legal Information Statement on other pages comprising our Site.

2. NO SOLICITATION OR OFFER OF MEDICAL SERVICES OR ADVICE

This Site is designed to provide general information about Independence and its products and services. Information on the Site is not intended to constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any particular product or service. Some products and/or services may not be available in all states and in many instances may be offered only through employers and other plan sponsors. No material contained on the Site should be construed as medical advice and/or treatment. No physician/patient relationship is created between Independence and you by reason of your use of the Site or under any circumstances. Individual inquiries about sensitive or confidential matters should be addressed to appropriate health care professionals.

3. NO LEGAL ADVICE

Nothing contained, expressed, or implied in this Site is intended as, nor shall be construed or understood as, legal advice, guidance, or interpretation. No attorney-client relationship is created between Independence and you by reason of your use of this Site or under any circumstances. If you have questions about any law, statute, regulation, or requirement referenced in this Site, you should contact your own legal counsel.

4. INDEPENDENCE BLUE CROSS PRIVACY POLICY

The information you provide to us is subject to our Privacy Policy. You can review the most current version of the Privacy Policy at any time by clicking on the link entitled “Privacy Policy” located on each page of our Site and our home page, ibx.com/medicare.

5. HOLD HARMLESS

You agree to release and hold Independence and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and all of their directors, officers, agents, principals or other partners, and employees, harmless from any claims, demands, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Site, your violation of these Terms and Conditions, and/or your violation of law.

6. GENERAL PRACTICES REGARDING USE AND STORAGE

You acknowledge that Independence may establish general practices and limits concerning use of its Site. You further acknowledge that Independence reserves the right to change its general practices at any time, in its sole discretion, with or without notice.

7. MODIFICATIONS TO Independence.COM/MEDICARE

Independence reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, its Site (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that Independence will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Site.

8. LINKS

Independence occasionally provides links to other entities on its websites for your convenience in locating health-related information, services and products unrelated Independence's Medicare Advantage or Part D plans. Please be advised that when you link to these other sites, you are leaving Independence' website and these websites are maintained by organizations which Independence does not control. Accordingly, a link does not constitute endorsement of the content, viewpoint, policies, products or services provided or advertised on that website. Once you link to a website not maintained by Independence, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that website, including, but not limited to its privacy policy. Because Independence has no control over such sites, you acknowledge and agree that Independence is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites. You further acknowledge and agree that Independence will not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damages or losses caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such site.

9. COMMUNICATIONS WITH OUR SITE

Independence welcomes your feedback and suggestions about how to improve our products and services and this Site. By transmitting any suggestions, information, material or other content (collectively, the “Materials”), to Independence you automatically grant Independence the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, perform and display such Materials (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in to other works in any form or media now known or later developed. Further, Independence is free to use any ideas, concepts know-how, techniques, and suggestions contained in any communications you send through the Site for any purpose, including but not limited to creating and marketing products and/or services using such information.

10. INDEPENDENCE BLUE CROSS' PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

You acknowledge and agree that the Site, and any necessary software used in connection with the Site, contains proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. You further acknowledge and agree that the content (including images, text and the “look and feel” attributes) presented to you through the Site is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents and/or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized by Independence in writing, you agree not to modify, copy, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on the Site in whole or in part. Independence grants you a personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive right and license to use the object code of its software on a single computer; provided that you do not (and do not allow any third party to) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the software. You agree not to modify the software in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the software, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to the Site. You agree not to access the Site by any means other than through the interface that is provided by Independence.

11. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

You expressly understand and agree that:

  • a. Your use of the site is at your sole risk. The service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Independence expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
  • b. Independence makes no warranty that (i) the site will meet your requirements, (ii) the site will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, (iii) the results that may be obtained from the use of the site will be accurate or reliable, (iv) any errors in the site will be corrected.
  • c. Any material downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of the site is done at your own discretion and risk and that you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of any such material.
  • d. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from Independence or through or from the site shall create any warranty not expressly stated in the terms and conditions.

12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

You expressly understand and agree that Independence shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses (even if Independence has been advised of the possibility of such damages), resulting from: (i) the use or the inability to use the site; (ii) unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data; (iii) statements or conduct of any third party on the site; or (iv) any other matter relating to the site. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, some of the above limitations of sections 11 and 12 may not apply to you.

13. NOTICE

Independence may notify you regarding the use of the Site via either email or regular mail. Independence may also provide notices of changes to the Terms and Conditions or other matters by displaying notices or links to notices to you generally on the Site.

14. TRADEMARK INFORMATION

All trademarks, servicemarks and logos are proprietary to Independence or the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Use or misuse of these trademarks is expressly prohibited and may violate federal and/or state trademark law. Without Independence' prior written permission, you agree not to display or use in any manner, the trademarks, servicemarks and logos found on the Site. You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Site. Independence enforces its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law.

15. GENERAL INFORMATION

The Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement between you and Independence and govern your use of the Site, superseding any prior agreements between you and Independence. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use affiliated sites or software. The Terms and Conditions and the relationship between you and Independence will be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without reference to its choice of law rules. You and Independence agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The failure of Independence to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms and Conditions does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms and Conditions is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms and Conditions remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Site or the Terms and Conditions must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred. The section titles in the Terms and Conditions are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

16. VIOLATIONS

Please report any violations of the Terms and Conditions to: webteam@ibx.com. By clicking this link you will be leaving the Medicare-specific web pages.

Links to other websites

Independence occasionally provides links to other entities on its websites for your convenience in locating health-related information, services and products. Please be advised that when you link to these other sites, you are leaving Independence’s website and these websites are maintained by organizations which Independence does not control. Accordingly, a link does not constitute endorsement of the content, viewpoint, policies, products or services provided or advertised on that website. Once you link to a website not maintained by Independence, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that website, including, but not limited to its privacy policy.

Certain services/treatments referred to in other sites may not be covered under your benefit plan. Please refer to your benefit contract for complete details of the terms, limitations, and exclusions of your coverage.

Social media terms of use

Social media tools will be governed by the following Terms of Use, which will be linked from all company-sponsored social media sites:

The Independence (“Independence”) social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube, Walk the Talk blog) allow Independence to share up-to-date information important to our members, brokers, vendors, providers, and the public (“Visitors”). All content and information, including comments, photographs, statements and opinions (“Materials”) posted by Visitors on Independence’s social media sites do not reflect the opinions, policies and/or ideas of Independence and/or its employees, officers, and directors. Independence accepts no responsibility for the Materials posted by Visitors, and Independence does not endorse the Materials.

Visitors should not post, upload or attach Materials or files:

  • which are threatening, defamatory, pornographic, intimidating, abusive, obscene, discriminatory, indecent, misleading, and or harassing;
  • which infringe and/or violate the copyright or intellectual property rights of a third party or person;
  • which are spam or advertise or offer to sell personal goods, products and/or services;
  • which are part of a survey, contest, lottery, sweepstakes or chain letters;
  • which are unlawful, illegal, and/or do not comply with the law;
  • which contain viruses, worms or corrupted files; and
  • which contain personal health information, financial and/or other private information of any other person or entity.

Independence regularly monitors Visitor postings on its social media sites. Independence reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to remove at any time any Materials or files posted by Visitors that it deems inappropriate.

The information provided by Independence on its social media sites:

  • is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice. Visitors should seek the advice of their physician with any questions regarding their medical condition or medical treatments;
  • is provided as an accommodation only and not intended to be notice or publication as may be required under the law; and
  • does not constitute a solicitation or offer to purchase insurance coverage.

Independence appreciates Visitor feedback. By posting Materials and files on Independence’s social media sites, Visitors’ understand that they are providing information voluntarily, with no expectation of compensation. Independence may use, modify, reproduce, and/or distribute these Materials and files for its own business purposes without payment and in accordance with applicable law.

If you do not feel comfortable posting directly to the Comments section of the social media sites, please feel free to email your post to us at socialmedia@ibx.com — by clicking this link you will be leaving the Medicare-specific web pages. Furthermore, we ask you to address personal customer service and support questions to the Ask Independence Team. You can find the answers to many questions about Independences products and services at www.ibx.com.

External link disclaimer

Independence occasionally provides links to other entities on its websites for your convenience in locating health-related information, services, and products. Please be advised that when you link to these other sites, you are leaving the Independence social media sites and these websites are maintained by organizations which Independence does not control. Accordingly, a link does not constitute endorsement of the content, view point, policies, products, or services provided or advertised on that website. Once you link to a website not maintained by Independence, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that website, including, but not limited to, its privacy policy.

Certain services/treatments referred to in other sites may not be covered under your benefit plan. Please refer to your benefit contract for complete details of the terms, limitations, and exclusions of your coverage.

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Website last updated: 8/22/2022