Member rights and responsibilities

As a member of the Capital Blue Cross family of companies, you have certain rights and responsibilities. The success of your treatment and your satisfaction depends, in part, on you taking responsibility as a patient. Acquainting yourself with your rights and responsibilities will help you take a more active role in your healthcare.

You have a right:

  • To be treated with respect and recognition of your dignity and right to privacy at all times, to receive considerate and respectful care regardless of religion, race, national origin, age, gender, or financial status.
  • To receive information about us, our services, our contracted providers and facilities (including information about a provider’s qualifications, such as medical school attended, residency completed, or board certification status), and member rights and responsibilities. Members can call Member Services to obtain this information.
  • To make recommendations to the list of member rights and responsibilities.
  • To have our member literature and material for the member’s use, written in a manner which truthfully and accurately provides relevant information that is easily understood.
  • To know the name, professional status, and function of those involved in your care.
  • To obtain from your provider complete current information about your diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in terms you can reasonably understand, unless it is not medically advisable to provide such information.
  • To candid discussion of appropriate or medically necessary treatment options for your condition, regardless of cost or benefit coverage.
  • To participate with providers in decision making about your healthcare.
  • To know what procedure and treatment will be used so that when you give consent to treatment, it is truly informed consent. Members should be informed of any side effects or complications that may arise from proposed procedures and treatment in addition to possible alternative procedures. Your physician is responsible for providing you with information you can understand.
  • To be advised if any experimentation or research program is proposed in your case and of your right to refuse participation.
  • To refuse any drugs, treatment, or other procedure offered to you to the extent permitted by law and to be informed by your provider of the medical consequences of such refusal.
  • To all information contained in your medical record unless access is specifically restricted by the attending provider for medical reasons.
  • To expect that all records pertaining to your medical care are treated as confidential unless disclosure is necessary for treatment, payment, and operations.
  • To be afforded the opportunity to approve or refuse release of identifiable personal information except when such release is allowed or required by law.
  • To file complaints or grievances about us, services requested, or the care rendered by your provider and to file an appeal from an adverse benefit determination or final internal adverse benefit determination.

You have a responsibility:

  • To follow the rules of membership and to read all materials carefully.
  • To carry your Capital Blue Cross ID card with you and present it when seeking healthcare services.
  • To provide us with relevant information about any additional health insurance coverage that you or any of your dependents may have.
  • To timely notify us and your employer of any changes in your membership, such as change of address, marital status, etc.
  • To seek and obtain services from the Primary Care Physician (PCP) you have chosen. Members should also seek services for direct access to obstetrical/gynecological care, emergency care, when your chosen provider has referred you to other in-network providers, and/or when we have preauthorization you to do so.
  • To communicate openly with the provider you choose by developing a provider-patient relationship based on trust and cooperation.
  • To follow the plans and instructions for care that you have agreed upon with your provider.
  • To ask questions to make certain you understand the explanations and instructions you are given.
  • To understand your health problems and participate, to the degree possible, in developing mutually agreed upon treatment goals.
  • To understand the potential consequences if you refuse to comply with treatment plans or recommendations.
  • To keep scheduled appointments or give adequate notice of delay or cancellation.
  • To pay appropriate copayments and coinsurance to providers when services are received.
  • To keep us informed of any concerns about the healthcare you receive.
  • To provide, to the extent possible, information that we and our providers and facilities need in order to facilitate and provide care and administer your coverage.
  • To treat others with respect and recognition of dignity, and to provide considerate and respectful interaction with others regardless of their religion, race, national origin, age, or gender.

No Surprises Act: Your rights and protections against surprise medical bills

The No Surprises Act is a law that protects you from surprise medical bills related to certain out-of-network claims, beginning January 1, 2022. Here are more details about your rights under this act.