We’ll keep your information private as required by law. Your answers on this application will only be used to determine eligibility for health coverage. We’ll check your answers using the information in our electronic databases and the databases of other state or federal agencies. If the information doesn’t match, we may ask you to send us proof.
We won’t ask any questions about your medical history. Household members who don’t want coverage won’t be asked questions about citizenship or immigration status.
Important: As part of the application process, we may need to retrieve your information from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Social Security, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and/or a consumer reporting agency. We need this information to check your eligibility for coverage and to give you the best service possible. We may also check your information at a later time to make sure your information is up to date. We’ll notify you if we find something has changed.
When you browse certain information about your visit can be collected when you browse websites. When you browse NJ FamilyCare, we, and in some cases our third-party service providers, can collect the following types of information about your visit, including:
We use this information to measure the number of visitors to our site and its various sections, to help make our site more useful to visitors, and to improve our public education and outreach through digital advertising. Also, this information is sometimes used to personalize the content we show to you on third-party sites.
When you request information:
We collect information including your email address or mobile phone number to communicate with you.
When you apply for health coverage:
To establish an account on NJ FamilyCare, we collect information such as your first and last name, and your email address. We use this information to establish and maintain your account to login and utilize NJ FamilyCare. Then, when you begin the application process, we collect information from you that is used to verify your identity.
On NJ FamilyCare, we provide streamlined applications that allow you to apply for health coverage. When you apply using one of these forms, NJ DMAHS collects personally identifiable information about you and is authorized to maintain a record of the information related to your application.
After you complete an application, some of your application information may be disclosed to other state and federal agencies so that your eligibility for health coverage can be determined. These organizations may include the Federal Data Hub, Social Security Administration (SSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
We use the application information you choose to provide to determine eligibility for enrollment in NJ FamilyCare. We also verify the information provided on the application and use it to communicate with you or your authorized representative.
We may share your information with the federal government if we believe you may be eligible for health coverage benefits from federal government programs.
Please see our Notice of Privacy Practices for additional information.
NJ DMAHS is committed to protecting consumer information entrusted with us at NJ FamilyCare. If you choose to provide NJ FamilyCare with personally identifiable information via phone, paper, or electronic means, we store your personally identifiable information in a record system designed to retrieve information about you by personal identifier (name, home mailing address, phone number, etc.). We will safeguard the information you provide in accordance with the requirements of State and Federal law.
NJ DMAHS will keep data collected long enough to achieve the specified objective for which it was collected. Once the specified objective is achieved, the data will be retired or destroyed in accordance with published record retention schedules. For disposal, DMAHS follows a strict chain of custody. Once a record has reached the end of its retention period, a request for destruction is made to the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services and submitted for approval to the New Jersey State Auditor’s Office.
If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us. If you make a complaint, there will be no retaliation against you and your benefits will not be affected. Complaints should be sent to DMAHS’s Privacy Officer at P.O. Box 712, Trenton, NJ 08625-0712 (609-588-2102 or MAHS.Privacy@dhs.state.nj.us (do not include personally identifiable or confidential information in an email to this email address). The Division will respond to your complaint within 30 days.
You may also file a complaint with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights by writing to 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201, or by calling 877-696-6775, or by filing on-line at www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html.
HIPAA - the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - provides protections for privacy rights. Below are links to important HIPAA documents related to the New Jersey Department of Human Services.
Authorization to Disclose information