Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions ("Terms and Conditions") govern your use of this Web Site (the "Site"), and by accessing, viewing, or using the material on the Site, you indicate that you understand and intend these Terms and Conditions to be the legal equivalent of a signed, written contract, and equally binding, and that you accept such Terms and Conditions and agree to be legally bound by them. If you do not agree with the Terms and Conditions, you are not granted permission to use the Site and should exit immediately.

  1. Proprietary Rights
  2. Communications With Our Web Site
  3. No Solicitation or Offer
  4. No Medical Services or Advice
  5. No Legal Advice
  6. Confidentiality Cannot be Guaranteed
  7. Privacy Statement
  8. Securities Information
  9. Disclaimer of Warranty and Liability
  10. Corrections and Changes
  11. Indemnification
  12. Links to Other Websites
  13. User Generated Content
  14. Digital Millennium Copyright (DMC) Act
  15. Use of the Internet
  16. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

1. Proprietary Rights

All material contained in this Site is protected by law, including but not limited to, United States copyright law. Except as indicated, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is the owner of the copyright in the entire content (including images, text and look and feel attributes) of www.BCBS.com and reserves all rights in that regard. Removing or altering the copyright notice on any material on the Site is prohibited. BCBSA also owns a copyright in this Site as a collective work and/or compilation, and in the selection, coordination, arrangement, organization and enhancement of Site content. Any commercial use of Site content is prohibited without the prior written consent of BCBSA. Except as indicated, BCBSA owns all trademarks, service marks or other logos featured on the Site. Use or misuse of these trademarks, service mark or logos is expressly prohibited and may violate federal and state law. Please be advised that BCBSA actively and aggressively enforces its intellectual property rights to the fullest extent of the law.

2. Communications With Our Web Site

BCBSA 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, "Content") to BCBSA, you automatically grant BCBSA the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, redistribute, transmit, perform and display such Content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in such content. Further, BCBSA is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, techniques, and suggestions contained in any communications you send to this Site for any purpose whatever, including but not limited to creating and marketing products and/or services using such information. BCBSA is not responsible and shall not be liable for the contents of Content posted to the Site by visitors or persons other than BCBSA employees. Opinions or comments contained in Content reflect the views of the author and not of BCBSA unless BCBSA expressly states to the contrary.

3. No Solicitation or Offer

This Site is designed to provide general information about BCBSA, its products and services, and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. 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 or countries and in many instances may be offered only through employers or BCBS companies and their affiliates or other BCBSA licensees. BCBSA is a trade association comprised of independent, locally-owned and operated BCBS companies.

4. No Medical Services or Advice

Nothing contained, expressed or implied in the Site is intended as nor shall be construed as medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is established between BCBSA and you by reason of your use of this Site or under any circumstances whatsoever. Individual inquiries about medical issues, or sensitive or confidential matters should be addressed to appropriate health care professionals.

5. 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 established between BCBSA and you by reason of your use of this Site or under any circumstances whatever. The information in this Site if for general informational purposes only. If you have questions about any law, statute, regulation, or requirement expressly or implicitly referenced in this Site, you should contact your own legal counsel.

6. Confidentiality Cannot be Guaranteed

Please be advised that the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to BCBSA via www.BCBS.com or Internet electronic mail cannot be guaranteed, including personal information such as your address or social security number. To ensure private and personalized attention, you may also contact BCBSA by telephone at 312.297.6000, or write us at BCBSA, 225 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60601, Attn. Web Team.

7. Privacy Statement

BCBSA has a Privacy Statement disclosing what information we collect about visitors, how we use such information, the steps we take to secure such information, how you can view and correct such information, and how you can decline to have information about you collected or used.

8. Securities Information

This Site and the information contained herein does not constitute an offer or a solicitation of an offer for the purchase or sale of any securities. The Site contains information and press releases about BCBSA, and although this information was believed to be accurate as of the date prepared, BCBSA disclaims any duty or obligation to update such information. To the extent that any information is deemed to be a "forward looking statement" as defined in the rules and regulations of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, such information is intended to fit within the "safe harbor" for forward looking information and is subject to material risk factors which may or may not be disclosed herein.

9. Disclaimer of Warranty and Liability

USE OF THIS SITE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. NEITHER BCBSA NOR ITS AFFILIATES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN OR SUBMITTED TO THE SITE, AND THE RISK OF INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU. THESE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. BCBSA SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST REVENUES OR LOST PROFITS, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OF, ACCESS TO, OR INABILITY TO USE THESE MATERIALS. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF BCBSA TO YOU EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR USE OF THE SITE.

10. Corrections and Changes

The site may be unavailable from time to time for any reason including, without limitation, routine maintenance. You understand and acknowledge that the Site may be interrupted, suspended and terminated from time to time. While we endeavor to keep the materials on the Site up to date, BCBSA cannot assume responsibility for any errors or omissions in these materials. BCBSA further does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials. BCBSA may make changes to these materials, or to the products or services described herein, at any time without notice, and makes no commitment to update the information contained herein. BCBSA reserves the right to terminate your access to the Site in the event that you violate these Terms and Conditions, or for any reason whatever.

11. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless BCBSA, its affiliates and subsidiaries, and all of their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives, proprietors, partners, shareholders, servants, principals, agents, predecessors, successors, assigns, and attorneys from and against any and all claims, proceedings, damages, injuries, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including attorney's fees and litigation expenses) relating to or arising from your use of the Site and any breach by you of these Terms and Conditions.

12. Links to Other Web Sites

This Site may, from time to time, contain links to other Internet Web sites for the convenience of users in locating information and services that may be of interest. Visitors to the Site acknowledge that these third-party sites are maintained by persons or organizations over which BCBSA exercises no control, and BCBSA expressly disclaims any responsibility for the content, the accuracy of the information and/or quality of products or services provided by or advertised on these third-party sites. BCBSA does not control, endorse, promote, or have any affiliation with any other Web site unless expressly stated in the Site.

13. Use of Third-Party Services

BCBSA does not control or manage the privacy practices of third parties, and you are subject to the privacy practices of those third parties when you use their services.

This Site uses ShareThis, a sharing widget provided by ShareThis, Inc., which allows users to share content on this Site through social media. Information collected by ShareThis is subject to the ShareThis Privacy Policy. You may opt out of being tracked by ShareThis at http://sharethis.com/privacy.

This Site also uses the tool “Google Analytics” to collect data on the use of this Site and help us better understand our visitors’ usage. To access Google Analytics’ privacy policy and/or opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics, please visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

14. User Generated Content

BCBSA encourages you to submit feedback regarding BCBSA, this Site or this Service, as well as your reviews, comments, posts, photos, videos, audio and other content that you submit through or to the Service ("User Generated Content"), as long as the User Generated Content is appropriate for a family audience and otherwise complies with these Terms of Use, other BCBSA guidelines or policies, and guidelines or policies specific to the activity or forum, as applicable. By posting or submitting your User Generated Content to our Service, you expressly agree NOT to submit User Generated Content which: (i) is harmful, inaccurate, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, deceptive, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, libelous, invasive of another's privacy or other rights, hateful or otherwise objectionable; (ii) violates any law, regulation or right of any third party, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, privacy or publicity rights or any other proprietary rights; and/or (iii) contains malware, commercial solicitations, political campaigning, mass mailings or "spam" of any kind.

You acknowledge and agree that BCBSA has the right (but not the obligation) to do any or all of the following at any time: (a) monitor User Generated Content; (b) remove or refuse to post any User Generated Content; and/or (c) disclose User Generated Content to any third party, and the circumstances surrounding submission.

You alone, and not BCBSA, are responsible for ensuring you have the rights to grant the license described in these Terms of Use and for BCBSA to post the User Generated Content, including, but not limited to, any copyright rights to images or other content, and the right to publish the images of people, landscapes and/or other creative works within the User Generated Content. When you post or submit User Generated Content, you grant to BCBSA a non-exclusive, fully paid-up, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable and sub-licensable right and license to use, display, disclose, perform, reproduce, transmit, copy, modify, delete, adapt, publish, translate, creative derivative works from, sell and distribute such User Generated Content and to incorporate the User Generated Content into any form, product, marketing, medium or technology, now known or hereafter developed, throughout the world, all without compensation to you. Accordingly, do not send, post or submit any User Generated Content that you do not wish to license to BCBSA, including any confidential information or any original creative materials, such as product ideas or original artwork. To the extent you submit your photo, name, username, nickname or other personal identifier along with your User Generated Content, you represent it is an accurate representation and you grant to BCBSA the right (but not the obligation) to use such identifier, or portion thereof, with such User Generated Content. You agree to indemnify BCBSA for any claims arising out of your breach of the Terms of Use or in connection with your User Generated Content.

As a visitor to our Service, please be advised that BCBSA does not endorse or take responsibility for the opinions, advice, information or statements made by third-party visitors to our Service, whether through User Generated Content or otherwise.

15. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Notice

BCBSA is committed to complying with copyright and related laws, and requires all users of the Site to comply with these laws. You may not store, post, modify, distribute, reproduce in any way, use or disseminate any material or content though the Site in any manner that constitutes an infringement of third-party intellectual property rights, including rights granted by copyright law.

Owners of copyrighted works who believe that their rights under copyright law have been infringed may take advantage of certain provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) to report alleged infringements. BCBSA does not, and will not, make any legal decisions about the validity of your claim of infringement or the possible defenses to a claim. Upon our receipt of a proper notice of claimed infringement under the DMCA, we will respond expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material claimed to be infringing and will follow the procedures specified in the DMCA to resolve the claim between the notifying party and the alleged infringer who provided the content in issue. BCBSA may contact the notice provider to request additional information. BCBSA reserves the right to disregard a notice that is not in compliance with the DMCA. Under the DMCA, BCBSA is required to take reasonable steps to notify the user who posted the allegedly infringing content. If you believe in good faith that a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed against you, the DMCA permits you to send us a counter-notice. Notices and counter-notices must meet the then-current statutory requirements imposed by the DMCA. Notices and counter-notices with respect to the Site should be sent to the address below.

If you are uncertain whether particular material infringes a copyright held by you or a third party, you should contact an attorney. Anyone making a false or fraudulent notice or counter-notice may be liable for damages under the DMCA, including costs and attorneys' fees.

To be effective, your Notification of Claimed Infringement must be in writing, sent to our designated agent listed below and contain the following information:

  1. An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;
  2. A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed;
  3. A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located to permit us to locate the material;
  4. Your contact information, including your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
  5. A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright or intellectual property owner, its agent, or the law; and
  6. A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in your report is accurate and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf.

BCBSA’s designated agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached as follows:

By E-Mail: dmca@bcbsa.com with the subject line “DMCA”

By Mail:

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Attn: Office of the General Counsel
200 E. Randolph
Chicago, IL 60601-7680

By Fax: 312.297.5956

16. Use of the Internet

Use of the Internet is solely at your own risk and is subject to all applicable state, national and international laws and regulations. Neither BCBSA nor its affiliates will be liable for any loss resulting from a cause over which they do not have direct control, including but not limited to failure of electronic or mechanical equipment or communication lines, telephone or other interconnect problems, computer viruses, unauthorized access, theft, operator errors, severe weather, earthquakes, natural disasters, strikes or other labor problems, wars, or governmental restrictions.

17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and Conditions will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois, without reference to its choice of law rules. By accessing, viewing, or using the material on the Site, you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal and state courts presiding in Chicago, Illinois, and agree to accept service of process by mail and hereby waive any and all jurisdictional and venue defenses otherwise available. This Site is controlled and operated by BCBSA from its offices within the United States. BCBSA makes no representation that materials in the Site are appropriate or available for use in other locations, and access to them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access this Site from other locations do so on their own volition and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws.

These Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement between you and BCBSA with respect to your use of the Site. If any part of these Terms and Conditions is held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect. You acknowledge that, in providing you access to and use of the Site, BCBSA has relied on your agreement to be legally bound by these Terms and Conditions.