Terms of Use
Website Terms of Use
Effective Date: 08/01/2022
These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your use of the websites, including https://www.copays.org/ and https://www.patientadvocate.org, and other services operated by Patient Advocate Foundation (“PAF,” “we,” “us” or “our”), where these Terms are posted (collectively, the “Sites”). These Terms represent a binding contract between PAF and you. By creating an account or otherwise accessing the Sites, you expressly represent that you are legally competent to enter into this agreement and agree to be bound by these Terms. It is your responsibility to review these Terms periodically. If at any time you find these Terms unacceptable or if you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Sites. If you do not agree to be bound by the Terms, you may not use the Sites. If these Terms are not enforceable where you are located, you may not use the Sites.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE NOTE THE ARBITRATION REQUIREMENT AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER SET FORTH BELOW, WHICH, , REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE ANY CLAIMS YOU MAY HAVE AGAINST PAF ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, SUBJECT TO SOME LIMITED EXCEPTIONS. ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY. PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW THE SECTION ON “DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE” FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Certain areas, features, or functionality of the Sites may be subject to different or additional terms, rules, guidelines or policies (“Additional Rules”), and we may provide such Additional Rules to you via postings, pop-up notices, links, or any other means at the time that you access or use the relevant area, feature or functionality. From time to time, such Additional Rules may conflict with these Terms. In the event of such a conflict, the Additional Rules will control. Any reference to the “Terms” in this agreement includes the Additional Rules.
CONTENT DISCLAIMER
THE CONTENTS OF THE SITES ARE NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR SEEKING PROFESSIONAL CARE AND/OR ADVICE. PLEASE SEEK THE ADVICE OF PROFESSIONALS, AS APPROPRIATE, REGARDING THE EVALUATION OF ANY SPECIFIC INFORMATION, OPINION, ADVICE OR OTHER CONTENT ON THE SITES.
By using the Sites, you represent that you have read, understand, and agree to the following disclaimers. These disclaimers do not limit the applicability or force of any disclaimers or other provisions found elsewhere in these Terms. The information on theSites is provided for general information only. This information cannot, and is not intended to, substitute for the advice of a professional. The Sites are not intended to provide medical, legal, or any other form of professional advice. The information is not, and should not be considered professional medical advice, nor should this information be treated as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. To the maximum extent permitted by law, you expressly agree that we are not providing medical advice via the Sites. You should always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider for any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment and before making any health care decision. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking medical advice or treatment because of something you read on the Sites. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you should not rely on any information on the Sites and should seek appropriate emergency medical assistance, such as by calling “911”.
ACCOUNT CREATION AND PASSWORDS
To access certain portions of the Sites, you must create an account. You agree to provide truthful and accurate information during the account creation process. You also agree to maintain the accuracy of any submitted data. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete, we reserve the right to terminate your account and suspend your use of any and all of the Sites.
You are responsible for preserving the confidentiality of your account password and will notify us of any known or suspected unauthorized use of your account. You agree that you are responsible for all acts or omissions that occur on your account while your password is being used.
USER CONDUCT
By using the Sites, you agree to not use the Sites in any manner that:
• Is designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of, any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment (including by means of
software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs);
• Interferes with or disrupts the Sites, services connected to the Sites, or otherwise interferes with operations or services of the Sites in any way;
• Infringes any copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent or other right of any party, or defames or invades the publicity rights or the privacy of any person, living
or deceased (or impersonates any such person);
• Consists of any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials,
“junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of solicitation;
• Causes PAF to lose (in whole or in part) the services of its Internet service providers or other suppliers;
• Links to materials or other content, directly or indirectly, to which you do not have a right to link;
• Is false, misleading, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially,
ethnically or otherwise objectionable, as determined by PAF in its sole discretion;
Copies, modifies, creates a derivative work of, reverse engineers, decompiles or otherwise attempts to extract the source code of the software underlying the Sites
or any portion thereof;
• Violates, or encourages anyone to violate these Terms, any ancillary terms and conditions listed on the Sites, or the Privacy Policy; or
• Violates, or encourages to violate, any applicable local, state, national, or international law, regulation, or order.
LINKING
We welcome links to our Sites. You are usually free to establish a hypertext link to any of the Sites so long as the link does not create a false implication of sponsorship or endorsement of your site by any of the Sites or by PAF.
NO FRAMING
Without the prior written permission of PAF, you may not frame, or make it appear that a third-party site is presenting or endorsing, any of the content of the Sites, or incorporate any intellectual property of the Sites, PAF or any of its licensors into another website or other service.
AGE LIMITATION
Our Sites are not intended for children. The Sites are not intended for use by persons under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, you are not allowed to use the Sites or submit any personal information to us without parent/guardian consent and agreement to the Terms.
COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK OWNERSHIP
The Sites and their content, features and functionality, including, without limitation, information, text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, video clips, data compilations and the design, selection and arrangement thereof (collectively, the “PAF Content”), are the exclusive property of PAF, our licensors or other content suppliers, and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws, and may not be used or exploited in any way without our prior written consent.
We are providing you with access to the Sites pursuant to a limited, non-exclusive, non-sub-licensable, non-transferable, revocable license. Under this license, you can use the Sites for personal, non-commercial use, and subject to these Terms. You may download information from the Sites and print out a hard copy for your personal, non-commercial use provided that you keep intact and do not remove or alter any copyright or other notice (e.g., trademark, patent, etc.) contained thereon. Except as otherwise expressly stated herein, you may not modify, copy, distribute, display, reproduce, sell, license, or create derivative works from, or otherwise use or exploit, any information or PAF Content, in whole or in part, in any manner, without the prior written authorization of PAF or any applicable third party suppliers. This limited license is available to you as long as you are not barred from the Sites by applicable law and your access is not terminated by us. Any unauthorized use of the PAF Content automatically terminates this limited license without prejudice to any other remedy available under applicable law. PAF reserves all right, title, and interest not expressly granted under this license to the fullest extent possible under applicable laws. Any unauthorized use of PAF Content may also violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and applicable regulations and statutes. You agree to comply with reasonable written requests from us to help us protect our proprietary and intellectual property rights.
YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND LICENSE GRANT
Some features on our Sites, either now or in the future, may allow you to post or submit communications, content and materials for publication on the Sites (“User Content”). You own any intellectual property rights to User Content, but you automatically grant, or warrant that you and/or the owner of such content has expressly granted PAF a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, unlimited, nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, adapt, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display User Content in any media or medium, or any form, format, or forum now known or hereafter developed. PAF shall be free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in User Content for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing, and marketing products incorporating such information. We may sublicense these rights through multiple tiers of sublicenses. You are responsible for User Content, and acknowledge that once published, we cannot always remove it. PAF may, but has no obligation to, monitor or review User Content or the content posted or submitted by other users of the Sites. We reserve the right to remove or disable access to any such content for any or no reason. We may take these actions without prior notification.
LINKS TO EXTERNAL SITES
The Sites may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the availability of these external websites nor do we endorse the activities or services provided by these websites. Under no circumstances shall we be held responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage caused or alleged to have been caused to a user in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services available on such external websites. Please review the polices applicable to third-party websites to better understand the terms applicable to your use of such websites.
PRIVACY
We respect your privacy and have taken specific steps to protect it. Your submission of personal information through the Sites is governed by our Website Privacy Policy available here: Privacy Policy
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SITES AND THE CONTENT ON THE SITES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND AS AVAILABLE BASIS. PAF MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THE SITES OR THECONTENT OR COMMUNICATIONS ON THE SITES, OR ANY WEBSITE OR OTHER CONTENT OR SERVICE THAT MAY BE ACCESSIBLE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY THROUGH THE SITES, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. PAF DISCLAIMS ALL RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY FOR THE AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, SECURITY OR RELIABILITY OF THE SITES, THE ACCURACY OF ANY OPINION OR INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITES, OR THE AVAILABILITY AND RELIABILITY OF ANY SOFTWARE ON THE SITES. PAF DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES THAT THE SITES AND ALL SOFTWARE, CONTENT AND SERVICES, INFORMATION DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE SITES ARE MERCHANTABLE, OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, ACCURATE, TIMELY, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NEED, OR NON-INFRINGING. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY PAF OR A REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY.
PAF DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE SITES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THEY ARE ERROR-FREE, RELIABLE, WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR AVAILABLE AT ALL TIMES. PAF DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE SERVICES THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SITES, INCLUDING ANY SUPPORT SERVICES, WILL BE EFFECTIVE, RELIABLE, AND ACCURATE OR MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. PAF DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS OR USE THE SITES (EITHER DIRECTLY OR THROUGH THIRD-PARTY NETWORKS) AT ALL TIMES OR LOCATIONS OF YOUR CHOOSING.
FURTHER, PAF DOES NOT ENDORSE AND MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY OPINION, INFORMATION, ADVICE OR STATEMENT ON THE SITES. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL PAF BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY YOUR RELIANCE ON INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE CONTENT ON THE SITES. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION, OPINION, ADVICE OR OTHER CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITES. PLEASE SEEK THE ADVICE OF PROFESSIONALS, AS APPROPRIATE, REGARDING THE EVALUATION OF ANY SPECIFIC INFORMATION, OPINION, ADVICE OR OTHER CONTENT ON THE SITES.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT PERMIT THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, PAF WILL HAVE NO OBLIGATION OR LIABILITY (WHETHER ARISING IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, PRODUCT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE) FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LIABILITIES, INCLUDING DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL (INCLUDING ANY LOSS OF DATA, REVENUE OR PROFIT OR DAMAGES ARISING FROM PERSONAL INJURY/WRONGFUL DEATH) ARISING WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF THE SITES, EVEN IF PAF HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS LIMITATION APPLIES TO DAMAGES ARISING FROM (i) USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITES, (ii) COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES, (iii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS BY THIRD PARTIES, (iv) THIRD PARTY CONTENT MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE SITES, OR (v) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SITES.
IN ADDITION, WHEN USING THE SITES, INFORMATION WILL BE TRANSMITTED OVER A MEDIUM WHICH IS BEYOND THE CONTROL AND JURISDICTION OF PAF, ITS PARTNERS, ADVERTISERS, AND SPONSORS OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY MENTIONED ON THE SITES. ACCORDINGLY, PAF ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR OR RELATING TO THE DELAY, FAILURE, INTERRUPTION, OR CORRUPTION OF ANY DATA OR OTHER INFORMATION TRANSMITTED IN CONNECTION WITH USE OF THE SITES.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to defend (at PAF’s option), indemnify, and hold PAF harmless from and against any and all liabilities, claims, damages, costs, and expenses, including attorneys’ fees and costs, arising from or related to your misuse of the Sites or any breach by you of these Terms. We reserve the right, at our expense, to assume exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you and, in any case, you agree to cooperate with us if and as requested by us in the defense and settlement of such matter.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE
By using the Sites, you and PAF agree that, if there is any controversy, claim, action, or dispute arising out of or related to your use of the Sites or the breach, enforcement, interpretation, or validity of these Terms or any part of it (“Dispute”), both parties shall first try in good faith to settle such Dispute by providing written notice to the other party describing the facts and circumstances of the Dispute and allowing the receiving party thirty (30) days in which to respond to or settle the Dispute. Notice shall be sent to:
• Us, at Patient Advocate Foundation, Attn: Compliance Department, 421 Butler Farm Road, Hampton, VA 23666 or
• You, at the mailing or email address we have on file for you. If we do not have a physical or email address on file for you, or if we are, for any reason, unable to
provide notice via the contact information on file, we reserve the right to provide notice by such means as we deem reasonable.
Both you and PAF agree that this dispute resolution procedure is a condition precedent that must be satisfied before initiating any litigation or filing any claim against the other party. IF ANY DISPUTE CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY THE ABOVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE, YOU AGREE THAT SUCH DISPUTE WILL BE DECIDED BY BINDING ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT TO HAVE A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, COLLECTIVE OR REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY. . Other rights that you and we would otherwise have in court will not be available or will be more limited in arbitration, including discovery and appeal rights.
All such disputes shall be exclusively submitted to Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (“JAMS”) (www.jamsadr.com) for binding arbitration under its rules then in effect (as modified by this agreement to arbitrate), before one arbitrator to be mutually agreed upon by both parties. The arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the JAMS Consumer Arbitration Minimum Standards (https://www.jamsadr.com/consumer-minimum-standards/) if it is determined by JAMS or the arbitrator that these standards are applicable to the Dispute. The location of any hearings will be determined by the applicable JAMS rules, provided that if the claim is for $10,000 or less, you may choose to have the arbitration conducted (1) solely on the basis of the documents submitted to the arbitrator or (2) through a non-appearance based hearing by teleconference or videoconference.
The arbitrator, and not any federal, state, or local court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute arising under or relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of these Terms, including any claim that all or any part of these Terms are void or voidable. For the avoidance of doubt, you and PAF agree that the arbitrator shall have the exclusive power to rule on his or her own jurisdiction, including any objections with respect to the existence, scope, or validity of this agreement to arbitrate or the arbitrability of any claim or counterclaim. The arbitrator may award (on an individual basis) any relief that would be available in a court. The award rendered by the arbitrator may be confirmed and enforced in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in lieu of arbitration either you or PAF may (1) bring an individual claim in small claims court in the United States consistent with any applicable jurisdictional and monetary limits that may apply and (2) file an individual claim in court to enjoin the infringement or other misuse of its intellectual property rights, provided that any such claim is brought and maintained on an individual basis.
CHOICE OF LAW AND CHOICE OF FORUM
These Terms have been made in and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the United States (including federal arbitration law) and the Commonwealth of Virginia, without giving effect to any conflict of law principles. Except for disputes or claims properly lodged in a small claims court in the United States, any disputes or claims not subject to the arbitration provision discussed above shall be resolved by a court located in the Commonwealth of Virginia and you agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action. You further agree that any such claims will be brought and maintained solely on an individual basis and not as part of any class, consolidated, collective or representative capacity, and that you waive your right to a jury trial with respect to any such action.
DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT NOTICE
We comply with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If you have a concern regarding the use of copyrighted material on our Sites, please contact our agent designated to respond to reports alleging copyright infringement. In the subject line of your message, please put “Re: Claim of Copyright Infringement.”
Compliance Department
Patient Advocate Foundation
421 Butler Farm Rd
Hampton, VA 23666
privacy@patientadvocate.org
To be effective, the notification must be a written communication that includes the following:
1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification,
a representative list of such works at that site;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be
disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number and, if available, an email address at
which the complaining party may be contacted;
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its
agent or the law; and
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the
owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
We may give notice to our users by means of a general notice on any of our websites, electronic mail to a user’s email address in our records, or written communication sent by first-class mail to a user’s physical address in our records. If you receive such a notice, you may provide counter-notification in writing to the designated agent that includes the information below. To be effective, the counter-notification must be a written communication that includes the following:
1. Your physical or electronic signature;
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed
or access to it was disabled;
3. A statement from you, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good-faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or
misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; and
4. Your name, physical address and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of a federal district court for the judicial district in
which your physical address is located, or if your physical address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which we may be found, and that you
will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of allegedly infringing material or an agent of such person.
In an effort to protect the rights of copyright owners, we maintain a policy for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, and where technically feasible, of account holders who are repeat infringers.
MODIFICATION AND TERMINATION
We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. When we do so, we will update the “Effective Date” above. You will be notified of any material changes to these Terms via a posting on the Sites. By continuing to use the Sites or any portion thereof after we post any such changes, you accept these Terms as modified.
We shall have the right to immediately terminate these Terms with respect to any user which we, in our sole discretion, consider to be unacceptable, or in the event of any breach by you of these Terms. More generally, we may change, restrict access to, suspend or discontinue the Sites, or any portion of the Sites, at any time and at our sole discretion.
MISCELLANEOUS
A. No waiver. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to a subsequent or similar breach or breaches.
If PAF does not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is contained in these Terms (or which PAF has the benefit of under any applicable law or
regulation), such action or inaction shall not be taken to be a formal waiver of PAF’s rights, and all such rights or remedies shall still be available to PAF.
B. Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid by a court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the
validity of the remaining provisions of these Terms, which shall remain in full force and effect.
C. Entire Agreement. These Terms and any Additional Rules set forth the entire understanding and agreement between us with respect to your use of the Sites.
D. Assignment. You may not assign, transfer, or sublicense any or all of your rights or obligations under these Terms without our express prior written consent. We
may assign, transfer, or sublicense any or all of our rights or obligations under these Terms without restriction.
E. No Relationship. These Terms do not, and shall not be construed to, create any partnership, employer-employee, or agency relationship between you and PAF.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about these Terms, please contact us at:
Patient Advocate Foundation
Compliance Department
421 Butler Farm Road
Hampton, VA 23666
United States
Phone: +1 (800) 532-5274
Email: privacy@patientadvocate.org