Protection of Personal Information

Basic Policy Regarding Protection of Personal Information (Privacy Policy)

The JERA Health Insurance Society takes the following measures to appropriately safeguard information concerning individual members ("personal information" hereinafter).

  • The Health Insurance Society implements appropriate safety measures to safeguard the personal information it obtains on its members against leaks, loss, damage, or improper access.
  • The Health Insurance Society uses the personal information provided by members solely for purposes considered beneficial for members, such as health maintenance and promotion. In addition, it uses Individual Numbers only within the scope of the purposes specified in the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedure.
  • Except when it has obtained advance consent from the member, the Health Insurance Society will not provide personal information on a member to any third party. Additionally, it will not provide personal information containing Individual Numbers ("identifying personal information" hereinafter), whether or not the individual has consented, except in the cases specified in the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedure. However, in the following cases, it may provide personal information on members other than identifying personal information to third parties without obtaining advance consent from members:
    • As stipulated by laws or regulations
    • When necessary to protect the life, safety, or property of an individual in cases in which obtaining the consent of the member would be difficult
    • When necessary to improve public health or to promote the healthy growth of children in cases in which obtaining the consent of the member would be difficult
    • When necessary to cooperate with national governmental bodies or local governmental authorities, or parties entrusted by national government bodies or local governmental authorities to execute affairs as specified by law or regulations in cases in which obtaining the consent of the member could impede their execution
  • In addition to training and raising awareness among employees regarding personal information protection, the Health Insurance Society will strive to manage personal information appropriately by assigning persons responsible for such management at each section that handles personal information.
  • When subcontracting its business operations, the Health Insurance Society will carry out reviews and implement improvements to strengthen personal information protection measures. When concluding business subcontracting agreements, it will carefully examine the competence of subcontractors and consider issues relevant to personal information protection in the content of such agreements.
  • A member who wishes to review, revise, or otherwise access his or her personal information may contact the Health Insurance Society's Privacy Contact. The contact there will respond swiftly to such requests to the extent reasonable.
  • In addition to complying with laws, regulations, and other standards concerning the handling of members' personal information, the Health Insurance Society continually reviews and strives to improve the content of this Privacy Policy.

Contact point

JERA Health Insurance Society
TEL　00-0000-0000
Hours: 9:30 am - 5:00 pm (closed Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and New Year's holidays)

Disclosure of purpose of use of personal information held by the JERA Health Insurance Society

Provision of Personal Information to Third Parties

The Health Insurance Society is deemed to have been granted implied comprehensive consent for the use of retained personal information (personal data) when no explicit objection or reservation is raised by the insured person or other concerned parties in their position under Notification No. 0414-(18), "Guidance on Proper Handling of Personal Information at Health Insurance Societies," issued on April 14, 2017, by the Director General of the Health Insurance Bureau of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for purposes beneficial to insured persons and other concerned parties or in cases where changes to current methods of notification on medical expenses or other such information impose an unreasonable burden on the Health Insurance Society while obtaining explicit consent would also not necessarily be reasonable from the point of view of the insured person, which applies to the provision below.

1.Provision of Personal Information to Third Parties (Comprehensive Consent)

'Purposes of Use'

  • To notify the insured person of medical expenses for the entire household.
  • To pay high-cost medical care benefits and additional benefits through the employer without requiring an application from the insured person.
  • To pay cash benefits, such as the Childbirth and Childcare Lump-Sum Grant, and additional benefits through the employer.
  • To pay healthcare service subsidies, such as influenza-related subsidies, for the entire household to the insured person through the employer.

2.第三者へ提供する個人情報（個人データ）の項目及び手段・方法

Purposes of Use Items of Personal Information Provided to Third Parties Means or Method of Provision
1 Names of individuals undergoing health check-ups, dates of treatments, benefit periods, treatment or benefit categories, numbers of days, medical expense totals, health insurance co-payment amounts, check-up institution names, statutory benefit amounts, additional benefit amounts, and dates of payments Displayed monthly on the Health Insurance Society website under "Medical Expense Statement."
2,3 Codes, numbers, names, cash benefit types, and payment amounts Provided as an electronic file to the employee in charge.
4 Codes, numbers, names, Category, and payment amounts Provided as an electronic file to the employee in charge.

3.Handling of Anonymized Information

"Anonymized information" refers to personal information that is processed in such a way that a specific individual cannot be identified. Additionally, even if the information is later restored, it cannot be used to then re-identify the specific individual.
For the purposes of its healthcare services, epidemiological studies, etc., the Health Insurance Society prepares anonymized information periodically and provides such information to companies involved in the analysis of itemized statements of medical remuneration via electronic communications. Information items included in such prepared and provided anonymized information are: genders, dates of birth, medical care insurance status information (enrollment periods, withdrawal periods, insured person or family member categories, etc.), consultation histories on itemized statements of medical remuneration, and consultation histories of health check-ups. Information that can be used to identify specific individuals is not included.

4.Procedures for the Suspension of Provision to Third Parties

  • If the insured person or other individuals are reluctant to grant consent to any purpose of use, they can request that the Health Insurance Society obtain explicit consent in advance for said purpose of use.
  • If the insured person or other individuals do not express the above intention, the Health Insurance Society will deem that it has been granted full consent for the purposes of use it has announced.
  • Consent can be granted or withdrawn at any time upon the request of the insured person or other individuals.

Joint Use of Personal Information

(1)Subsidy Payment Services Related to Payment of High-Cost Medical Care Benefits

The Health Insurance Society uses retained personal information (personal data) jointly as described below.
Under the provisions of Article 27, paragraph (5), item (iii) of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, which states, "... with regard to (1) the joint use of personal data, (2) the items of jointly used personal data, (3) the extent of the joint users, (4) the users' purposes of use, and (5) the name and address of the person responsible for managing the personal data, or the name of the corporate representative, if the business makes the foregoing information readily accessible to the person identifiable by that data in advance," the persons receiving such personal information (personal data) do not fall under a third party. Therefore, the Health Insurance Society is deemed to be able to provide the personal information (personal data) of an individual without obtaining their consent in advance.

1.Items of Jointly Used Personal Information (Personal Data)

(1) For itemized statements of medical remuneration (including statements of remuneration for prescriptions), electronic itemized statement data in CSV format or a copy of a printed itemized statement, and (2) data or written documents for summary statements of subsidy applications recording (listing) items such as patient names, genders, insured person or family member categories, in-patient or out-patient categories, dates of medical treatments, and charged amounts, in addition to all other items of data included in such itemized statements

2.Joint Users

  • Subsidy payment service groups and employees in charge of high-cost medical care of the National Federation of Health Insurance Societies
  • Subcontractors of the National Federation of Health Insurance Societies (ICT and healthcare promotion divisions and partner companies of the Japan Productivity Center)

3.Purposes of Joint Use

To provide services related to the payment of high-cost medical care benefits.

4.Person Responsible for Personal Information Management

  • JERA Health Insurance Society
    Nihonbashi Takashimaya Mitsui Building 16F, 5-1, Nihonbashi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
    Chairman of the Board　Takeshi senju
    Information Manager: Managing Director
  • National Federation of Health Insurance Societies
    1-24-4 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
    President: Shunichi Miyanaga
    Information Manager: General Manager of the Health Insurance Society Support Department

(2)Personal Information Jointly Used by Employers

The Health Insurance Society uses retained personal information (personal data) jointly as described below. Under the provisions of Article 27, paragraph (5), item (iii) of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, which states, "... with regard to (1) the joint use of personal data, (2) the items of jointly used personal data, (3) the extent of the joint users, (4) the users' purposes of use, and (5) the name and address of the person responsible for managing the personal data, or the name of the corporate representative, if the business makes the foregoing information readily accessible to the person identifiable by that data in advance," the persons receiving such personal information (personal data) do not fall under a third party. Therefore, the Health Insurance Society is deemed to be able to provide the personal information (personal data) of an individual without obtaining their consent in advance.

1.Items of Jointly Used Personal Information (Personal Data)

  • Information on individuals (names, genders, dates of birth, employee numbers, affiliated departments, job levels, addresses, phone numbers, standard monthly remunerations, standard bonuses, employer-provided e-mail addresses, dependent information required for determining eligibility, etc.)
  • Information on individuals undergoing health check-ups (such as regular check-ups or complete check-ups) administered by the Health Insurance Society as part of its healthcare services (codes, numbers, names, dates of birth, genders, ages, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, names of employers, employee codes, check-up dates, check-up reservation dates, check-up institution names, check-up items, check-up results, findings, medical consultation and advice details, etc.)

2.Joint Users

  • Health Insurance Society employees
  • Employees of the employer in charge of personnel
  • Employees of the employer in charge of health check-ups
  • Occupational physicians
  • Subcontractors

3.Purposes of Joint Use

  • To ensure the smooth and correct execution of the Health Insurance Society's operations (gain or loss of eligibility), health insurance benefits, healthcare services, etc., as stipulated in the Health Insurance Act.
  • In order for the Health Insurance Society and the employer to share personal information to maintain and improve the health of the insured person and prevent worsening of their medical conditions through the provision of follow-up medical care, appropriate health education and guidance, as well as the recommendation of health check-ups, based on the health check-up results of the insured person.
    To conduct assessments and analyses after the insured person had a check-up to effectively provide health insurance services together with the employer.

4.Person Responsible for Personal Information Management

  • JERA Health Insurance Society
    Nihonbashi Takashimaya Mitsui Building 16F, 5-1, Nihonbashi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
    Chairman of the Board　Takeshi senju
    Information Manager: Managing Director
  • Head of Information Security Section of the employer

Procedures for the Disclosure, Correction, or Suspension of Use of Personal Data

To request the disclosure, correction, or suspension of use of personal data retained by the Health Insurance Society, please obtain the designated request form from the Health Insurance Society, fill in the required information, and submit the form in accordance with the "Handling Guidelines for the Disclosure, Correction, or Suspension of Use of Retained Personal Data."

Specific Procedures

  • Obtain a "Request Form for Disclosure of Retained Personal Data" for the disclosure of personal data or a "Notification of Correction or Suspension of Use of Retained Personal Data" for the correction or suspension of use of personal data from the Health Insurance Society.
  • Fill in the required information.。
  • Prepare the documents to be attached. Please consult with the Health Insurance Society for the documents that must be attached.
  • Submit all the documents to the Health Insurance Society.

The Health Insurance Society considers the convenience of individuals filing requests or notifications to make the filing process as simple as possible. The Health Insurance Society will respond to any requests or notifications in writing. In principle, the Health Insurance Society will respond to a request for disclosure by disclosing the information regardless of the reason. However, the Health Insurance Society may refuse to disclose information in part or in whole if the disclosure may harm the assets or other interest of a third party, if it may significantly inhibit the proper execution of the Health Insurance Society's operations, or if the Health Insurance Society does not have the personal data requested for disclosure. In this case, the Health Insurance Society will immediately notify the individual of the reason in writing.

Requests for Disclosure of Itemized Statements of Medical Remuneration

The Health Insurance Society discloses itemized statements of medical remuneration in accordance with rules on disclosure of statements of medical remuneration and other documents as well as administrative requirements for handling disclosures of statements of medical remuneration and other documents. Since it is difficult for the Health Insurance Society to determine whether the disclosure of such itemized statements would hinder the medical care of the individual, in the course of disclosing itemized statements of medical remuneration, the Health Insurance Society asks the insurance medical care institution or other facilities which issued the itemized statements whether disclosure is appropriate.
In principle, the Health Insurance Society does not charge disclosure fees, but will charge the actual costs of sending documents if a reply or other responses are requested by postal mail.
Please contact the Health Insurance Society with any other inquiries you may have.