Terms of Use
Effective Date: April 1, 2020
The Healthcare Consumer Rights Foundation is a not-for-profit organization (IRS registration number: 84-4699932). These Terms of Use describe your rights and responsibilities when using the Healthcare Consumer Rights Foundation platform, including all materials, online communications and other information that is or becomes available on the Healthcare Consumer Rights Foundation website. Please read them carefully.
1. INTRODUCTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
The Healthcare Consumer Rights Foundation website (including www.healthcareconsumerrights.org, and any of its related or affiliated websites, mobile sites and related applications) (collectively, the “Site”) and the related services, features, functionality and content of the Site, including but not limited to, images, audio, video, podcasts, live content feeds and on-demand streams, the Site’s social networking applications, forums and blogs (“Content”), is provided by the Healthcare Consumer Rights Foundation (“HCRF,” “we”). The terms and conditions set forth in this Terms of Use agreement (“Terms of Use”) and in the HCRF Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Policies”), govern your use of the Site. By using the Site, you agree to abide by and will comply with the Policies and any modifications thereto that are then posted. These Terms of Use constitute a written agreement regarding your use of the Site that affects your legal rights and obligations.
2. OWNERSHIP
The Site (including modifications) and all right, title and interest in and to the Content available through the Site are owned and controlled by the Healthcare Consumer Rights Foundation, a nonprofit public benefit corporation. The Site is protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark, right of publicity or other intellectual property rights and laws to the fullest extent possible. The Content and other features of the HCRF Site as well as the selection, arrangement, assembly, compilation and/or enhancement of the Content and any modifications, are owned by or licensed to HCRF.
3. GENERAL USE OF THE SITE – PERMISSIONS AND RESTRICTIONS
If you do not agree to any of the terms contained in the Policies, please do not participate on the Site.
3.1 Age Restrictions. You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age, or the legal age to form a binding contract in your jurisdiction if that age is greater than 18 years of age, to use the Site or HCRF’s services. If you are between the ages of 13 and 18 or the applicable legal age in your jurisdiction, you can use the Site or services only under the supervision of your parent or guardian who has agreed to these Terms of Use. Those under the age of 13 may not use the Site or services. Parents or legal guardians of a child under the age of 18 may use the Site or services on behalf of such minor child.
3.2 Prohibited Activities. You agree not to:
- Copy, alter, reproduce, create derivative works, remove, republish, post, publicly perform, publicly display, distribute, modify, broadcast, download, transmit, license or commercially exploit, in whole or in part, except as expressly permitted by HCRF herein or by the respective Content owner as applicable and as permitted in any required end user license agreement if any provided that you include without any modification or alteration all copyright and other propriety notices contained in the Content;
- Collect or otherwise obtain any personally identifiable information from the Site or any Content available on the Site for any advertising, promotion or solicitation purposes, regardless of whether or not this is for commercial or non-profit purposes;
- Disable, circumvent or otherwise interfere with security features of the Site or other features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any Content; and
- Use the Site to generate unsolicited email advertisements or spam, to conduct or promote any illegal activity, for political campaigning, and/or soliciting support for legislative or other related initiatives.
4. HCRF SERVICES AND CONTENT ARE INFORMATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
HCRF provides educational information to help healthcare consumers navigate the complex healthcare system and understand their legal rights and options. The accuracy, completeness, adequacy, or currency of the Content is not warranted or guaranteed. We may, but have no obligation to, publish Content through the Site that is reviewed by our editorial personnel. No party (including HCRF) involved in the preparation or publication of such works guarantee that the Content is timely, accurate or complete, and they will not be responsible or liable for any errors or omissions in, or for the results obtained from the use of, such Content. Reliance on any information provided by HCRF, HCRF consultants, others appearing on the Site at the invitation of HCRF, or other visitors to the Site is solely at your own risk.
4.1 NO MEDICAL ADVICE OR DOCTOR-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP
This Site and its Content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace or substitute for any professional medical advice from a qualified physician or other healthcare provider. HCRF is not a health care provider, and does not provide medical services or render medical advice. The information made available by HCRF should not be relied upon when making medical decisions, or to diagnose or treat a medical or health condition. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you saw, read or heard on this Site.
Your use of this Site does not create a doctor-patient relationship between you and HCRF or anyone affiliated with HCRF. You should not change your professional behaviors solely on the basis of information from the Site. Make sure to discuss your healthcare and insurance options with a physician or other health care provider before you act upon the information provided by the Site. If you have concerns or questions about information provided by the Site, you should contact your physician or other health care provider.
4.2 NO LEGAL ADVICE, PERSONAL ADVICE OR ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP.
This Site and its Content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace or substitute for any professional legal, financial, insurance or other advice from a qualified attorney. HCRF is not a law firm, and does not provide legal services or render legal advice. This Site may contain legal commentary, and in some instances may generally describe the law concerning various matters. This commentary is general in nature, and is provided only for general reference purposes only, and not as legal advice. The commentary may assume specific facts and circumstances that may not apply in all cases or in your case. Under no circumstances should you rely on any commentary or information contained herein as legal advice.
No attorney-client or confidential relationship exists or will be formed between you and HCRF or any of HCRF’s representatives or consultants. If you have specific concerns or a situation in which you require legal, financial, insurance, or any other professional advice, you should consult with an attorney or other appropriately trained and qualified specialist.
5. POSTING USER GENERATED CONTENT
The Site may contain interactive areas such as comment sections, discussion forums, blogs, bulletin boards or other interactive sections (“Interactive Sections”) that contain user generated content provided by users, including text, photos, videos or other materials and/or content (“User Content”). You are solely responsible for your use of any Interactive Sections and your use of them is at your own risk. All User Content will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and HCRF is free to use, copy, disclose, distribute and otherwise exploit any such User Content for any purpose that is not inconsistent with our Policies.
You represent and warrant that the User Content is your own original work and/or you own or have the necessary rights to distribute and use the User Content on the Site in the manner contemplated by the Site and these Terms of Use. You also agree that any User Content you post will not infringe on any third party right — including copyright, trademark, patent, right of publicity, other intellectual property right or any applicable federal, state or local law that may apply regarding the posting of material — and will not slander, defame, libel or invade the right of privacy or publicity of any other person. If you submit any User Content to the Site (questions, comments or otherwise) you understand and agree that it may be used by HCRF for any reason throughout the world without requirement or consent, and that HCRF may edit your User Content as long as the meaning is preserved. You agree that you provide a license for HCRF to use your User Content worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty free and perpetual, non-revocable license for HCRF to use in whatever way HCRF deems appropriate throughout the world in whole or in part, in any media platforms available now or developed in the future. If you post material or misuse the Site in a way that infringes on another party’s intellectual property rights, or these policies, you understand that we may remove the posting and that you agree to indemnify HCRF based on the indemnification provided below.
6. REMOVAL OF CONTENT
HCRF does not allow for the infringement of intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks or patents, etc. on the Site, and HCRF will remove Content (including User Content) if properly notified that such Content infringes on another’s intellectual property rights. HCRF reserves the right to remove Content (including User Content) without prior notice. HCRF reserves the right to change or discontinue temporarily or permanently any Content, or related services available through the Site at any time without notice. HCRF will not be liable to you or any third party for any modification or discontinuance of the services therein.
7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
All rights, including any intellectual property rights therein, and to this Site, Content and associated materials are owned by or licensed to HCRF, or otherwise used by HCRF as permitted by applicable law or agreement. In the case of User Content, the contents are licensed to HCRF by the user as provided for herein.
7.1 Trademarks
All trademarks, service marks, design marks, logos, positioning statements and trade names are proprietary to HCRF or of the respective owner. All rights are reserved by the respective owners. You may not use any HCRF provided service marks, logos or graphics, without HCRF’s prior written consent, except that you have the right and obligation, to use any HCRF or other content provider service mark or logo included in, or required to be used in connection with, Content or other portion or capability of the Site, subject to the requirements set forth in these Terms of Use for the use of the Content or other functionalities of the Site.
7.2 Copyrights
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs appearing on this site are used by permission from Shutterstock.com and are used in accordance with their terms and conditions.
Claimed Copyright Infringement. If you are a copyright owner or an agent of a copyright owner and believe in good faith that any Content on the Site infringes upon your copyright, you may send a notice of claimed infringement to HCRF’s Designated Agent pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) section 17 USC 512 (c) (3).
The notice must include the following information:
- A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly infringed;
- Identification of works or materials being infringed;
- Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing including information regarding the location of the infringing materials that the copyright owner seeks to have removed, with sufficient detail so that HCRF is capable of finding and verifying its existence;
- Contact information about the notifier including address, telephone number and, if available, email address;
- A statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
- A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information provided is accurate and the notifying party is authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the copyright owner.
All notifications of claimed copyright infringement should be forwarded to our Designated Copyright Agent at:
Attn: Executive Director
Healthcare Consumer Rights Foundation
481 N Santa Cruz Ave, #116
Los Gatos, CA 95030
E-mail: info@healthcareconsumerrights.org
Once a proper bona fide infringement notification is received by the Designated Agent, it is HCRF’s policy: to remove or disable access to the infringing material; to notify the content provider or user that HCRF has removed or disabled access to the material; and for repeat offenders, to terminate such content provider’s or user’s access to the Site.
7.3 Podcasts
HCRF provides podcasts consisting of selected audio content from HCRF and other content providers. HCRF does not necessarily endorse, support, sanction, encourage, verify, or agree with the comments, opinions, or views expressed in the podcasts(s). Any comments, opinions, or views in podcast(s) posted, uploaded, transmitted, sent or otherwise made available on or through the Site, are the views and responsibility of the content provider or individual(s) appearing in the podcast(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of HCRF or the views of HCRF’s licensors or affiliates.
Any MP3, MP4 audio files and XML files that are developed by HCRF, co-produced by HCRF as a podcast provided via a HCRF platform or third party platform (herein referred to as the “podcast”), are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. All rights to podcast(s) are as defined by the hosting provider, the HCRF Site and/or the applicable terms through a subscription, or via a third party hosting provider. However, in all instances HCRF podcasts are available for personal, noncommercial use only.
Unless otherwise indicated, you may only use the podcast for personal, noncommercial purposes, provided that:
- you do not modify or delete any of the podcast Content nor individual audio files;
- you do not redistribute the audio files made available as part of the podcast;
- the use or display does not suggest that HCRF promotes or endorses any third party causes, ideas, Web sites, products or services;
- audio files made available for download are not to be reproduced, edited, re-transmitted, or in any way repurposed without prior consent from HCRF.
HCRF reserves the right to discontinue providing podcast(s) and to require that you cease accessing or using the podcast(s) or any elements of the podcast at any time for any reason.
8. LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES AND OTHER SERVICES
HCRF services contain links to other Internet sites, applications and services maintained by third parties, over which HCRF has no control. HCRF does not endorse or approve of the content, operators, products or services of such sites, and HCRF is not responsible or liable for the content, operators, availability, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, services or other materials on or available from such third-party sites. You further acknowledge and agree that HCRF shall not have any liability whether direct or indirect or otherwise, for any damage or loss 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 or resource. Please be aware that any third party services are unrelated to HCRF and that your use of the third party services is subject to the terms and policies of those specific services.
9. USER’S OBLIGATIONS TO ABIDE BY APPLICABLE LAW
In connection with the Terms of Use of the Site, you shall abide by all applicable federal, state and local laws, including, but not limited to the laws regarding those such areas as libel, slander, defamation, trade libel, product disparagement, harassment, invasion of privacy, tort, obscenity, indecency, and copyright or trademark infringement (“Applicable Laws”). The Content may include intellectual property that is protected under the copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws of the United States and/or other countries (“Intellectual Property Laws”). Such Intellectual Property Laws generally prohibit the unauthorized reproduction, distribution or exhibition of all text, photographic and graphic (art and electronic) images, music, audio samplings and other protected materials. The violation of applicable Intellectual Property Laws may give rise to civil and/or criminal penalties.
10. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
You acknowledge that we have no control over, and no duty to take any action regarding: (a) which users gain access to the Site, (b) what Content you access, (c) what effects the Content may have on you, (d) how you may interpret or use the Content, or (e) what actions you may take as a result of having been exposed to the Content. You release us from all liability for you having acquired, you having not acquired, or your use of Content. We make no representations or warranties regarding suggestions or recommendations of services or products referenced in the Site. We have no special relationship with or fiduciary duty to you.
YOUR USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THIS SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ALL STATUTORY WARRANTIES, WITH RESPECT TO THE SITE AND HCRF’S SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICES ARE MERCHANTABLE, OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, ACCURATE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NEED, OR NON-INFRINGING. HCRF DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ANY CONTENT IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE OR RELIABLE, THAT HCRF’S SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE AND/OR THAT ANY CONTENT IS FREE OF ERROR, BUGS, MALICIOUS OR ROGUE SOFTWARE, CONTAMINANTS OR OTHER HARMFUL ITEMS. NO INFORMATION, DATA OR CONTENT OBTAINED BY YOU FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS OF USE. YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY CONTENT FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE AND IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK. WITHOUT LIMITATION, 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.
11. RELEASE AND INDEMNITY
YOU HEREBY RELEASE AND WAIVE ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND/OR LIABILITY AGAINST HCRF AND/OR ITS AFFILITATES ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE HCRF SITE. YOU ALSO AGREE TO DEFEND, INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS, HCRF AND ITS AFFILIATES, AND/OR LICENSORS, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE TRUSTEES, DIRECTORS AND EMPLOYEES FROM AND AGAINST, ANY AND ALL CLAIMS OR LIABILITY, INCLUDING COSTS AND ATTORNEYS FEES, ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE HCRF WEBSITE, FAILURE TO ABIDE BY APPLICABLE LAW, OR VIOLATION OF ANY THIRD PARTY RIGHT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY COPYRIGHT, PROPERTY, OR PRIVACY RIGHT.
12. LIMITATION OF DAMAGES
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL HCRF BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE HCRF SITE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION USE OF OR RELIANCE ON CONTENT AVAILABLE ON THE HCRF WEBSITE, INTERRUPTIONS, ERRORS, DEFECTS, MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, DELETIONS OF FILES, DELAYS IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, NONDELIVERY OF CONTENT, DISCLOSURE OF COMMUNICATIONS OR ANY OTHER FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE.
IF YOU ARE A CALIFORNIA RESIDENT, YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE SECTION 1542, WHICH SAYS “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH, IF KNOWN BY HIM MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.”
13. MODIFICATIONS
The terms listed within the Site may be modified by HCRF from time-to-time without notice. Continuing to use the Site after a modification has been made will indicate your acceptance of the revisions made. You should refer back to the Site for future updates and modifications.
14. PRIVACY POLICY
HCRF respects the privacy of the visitors to the Site. Please also review HCRF’s Privacy Policy to understand the additional Terms of Use that apply to your use of the Site.
15. GENERAL INFORMATION
These Terms of Use and the HCRF Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and HCRF and govern your use of the Site, superseding any prior version of these Terms of Use between you and HCRF with respect to the Site.
You and HCRF each agree that the Terms of Use and the relationship between the Parties shall be governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions and that any and all claims, causes of action or disputes (regardless of theory) arising out of or relating to the Terms of Use, or the relationship between you and HCRF, shall be brought exclusively in the courts located in the county of Santa Clara, California. You and HCRF agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Santa Clara, California and agree to waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over the parties by such courts and to venue in such courts. Any headings or summaries provided on this page are used for reference purposes only and do not serve any legal effect. By accessing the HCRF Site and Content, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions herein.