PITTSBURGH – A Cranberry Township man is seeking benefits for ambulance services his decedent received in 2015.
Thomas Van Sumeren, as executor of the estate of Mary Van Sumeren, filed a complaint on Dec. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Alcoa Inc.; The Employees' Group Benefit Plan of Alcoa Inc., Plan I and II; and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield citing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
According to the complaint, in 2015 Mary Van Sumeren was transported from a hospital in Massachusetts to a rehabilitation hospital in Pennsylvania via air ambulance. The suit states a claim for benefits was sent, which the defendants denied.
The plaintiff holds Alcoa Inc.; The Employees' Group Benefit Plan of Alcoa Inc., Plan I and II; and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield responsible because the defendants allegedly failed to submit the plaintiffs' claim for external review per the terms of the plan.
The plaintiff seeks payments due under the plan for the ambulance service, court costs and any further relief the court grants. He is represented by Tybe A. Brett of Feinstein Doyle Payne & Kravec LLC in Pittsburgh and Eamon P. Kelly and Nathan A. Shev of Sperling & Slater PC in Chicago.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case number 2:17-cv-01589-CRE