The Sixth Circuit joined several other circuits in holding that a participant need not have actually incurred a financial loss in order to have standing to assert an ERISA claim for benefits under Section 502(a)(1)(B).  Here, the plan participant arranged an air ambulance for his son in a non-emergent situation, but the plan refused to pay the bill on the ground that the service had not been pre-certified. The Court explained that even though the ambulance service had not directly billed the plan participant, the participant’s allegation that the plan breached its promise to pay all medical transportation expenses constituted an injury-in-fact sufficient to confer standing.  The case is Springer v. Cleveland Clinic Employee Health Plan Total Care, No. 17-cv-4181, 2018 WL 3849376 (6th Cir. Aug. 14, 2018).

Photo of Benjamin Flaxenburg Benjamin Flaxenburg

Benjamin O. Flaxenburg is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Ben served as an extern for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District…

Benjamin O. Flaxenburg is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Ben served as an extern for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana and as a judicial extern to the Honorable Nannette Jolivette Brown at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Ben was also a managing editor of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal, a member of the Tulane’s Moot Court Board and a member of Tulane’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Moot Court Team.