Polonczyk v. Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Kentucky
DecidedFebruary 23, 2022
Docket2:20-cv-00176
StatusUnknown

This text of Polonczyk v. Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield (Polonczyk v. Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Polonczyk v. Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield, (E.D. Ky. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY NORTHERN DIVISION AT COVINGTON

CIVIL ACTION NO. 20-176-DLB-CJS

TEEANNA J. POLONCZYK PLAINTIFF

v. MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ANTHEM BLUECROSS AND BLUESHIELD, et al. DEFENDANTS

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I. INTRODUCTION This matter is before the Court on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. # 26). Defendants’ Motion has been fully briefed (Docs. # 34 and 43), and is now ripe for review. For the reasons set forth herein, Defendants’ Motion (Doc. # 26) will be GRANTED. II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On December 9, 2020, Plaintiff Teeanna Polonczyk filed a Complaint alleging a number of claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) and the Affordable Care Act against Defendants Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield and Anthem UM Services, Inc.1 related to Defendants denial of benefits owed to Plaintiff. (Doc. # 1). Plaintiff Polonczyk was assigned the male gender at birth and has been clinically diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria as an adult. (Doc. # 30 ¶ 15). Since 2011, Plaintiff has undergone medical procedures to transition from male to female. (Id.). In 2019, Plaintiff, who is employed by Citibank, N.A., sought healthcare benefits for facial surgery

1 Citigroup Health Benefit Plan, Citigroup, Inc., Citibank, N.A., and Plans Administration Committee of Citigroup, Inc. were also named as Defendants but were dismissed by Agreed Order on June 21, 2021. (Doc. # 42). to assist in her transition under her employer-sponsored plan entitled “ChoicePlan 500” (“the Plan”). (Id. ¶¶ 15, 25). Plaintiff’s Plan generally “does cover procedures, treatments and related services designed to alter a participant’s physical characteristics from his or her biologically determined sex to those of another sex.” (Doc. # 1-1 at 137). Plaintiff’s facial surgery was supposed to be completed on February 12, 2019 by

Dr. William Tobler, following a pre-operation exam on January 15, 2019, conducted by Plaintiff’s primary care physician, Dr. Walters. (Doc. # 1 ¶¶ 17, 25). Following this visit, Dr. Tobler submitted a pre-certification request regarding Plaintiff’s facial surgeries, which allows the insurer an opportunity to determine whether a specific medical procedure is necessary or covered by the insured’s policy. (Id. ¶ 25). That pre-certification request outlined the following procedures that were supposed to be performed: (1) Rhytidectomy—Cheek, Chin, & Neck, (2) Rhytidectomy—Neck with Platysmal Tightening, (3) Repair Brow Ptosis, (4) Osteoplasty—Facial Bones Reduction, (5) Genioplasty—Sliding Osteotomies, (6) Osteoplasty—Facial Bones Augmentation, and (7)

Tissue Grafts—Other. (Id. ¶ 30). Plaintiff’s pre-certification request was ultimately denied following a multi-step review process. On February 6, 2019, Defendants Anthem BlueCross and Blue Shield and Anthem UM Services, Inc. (“Defendants”) performed an Initial Clinical Review on Dr. Tobler’s precertification request. (Id. ¶ 30). During this review, Defendants referenced a document entitled “Clinical Guideline for CG-SURG-27,” which states that “[t]he following procedures are considered cosmetic when used to improve the gender specific appearance of an individual who has undergone or is planning to undergo sex reassignment surgery, including, but not limited to, the following: Blepharoplasty[,] Brow lift[,] Facial bone reconstruction[, and] Jaw reduction (jaw contouring).” (Doc. # 1-2 at 10). Based on this document, the physician reviewer determined that the procedures requested by Dr. Tolber were not approvable under the plan criteria because “[w]hile it may change appearance it does not improve health.” (Id.). On February 11, 2019, Defendants internally denied Plaintiff’s pre-certification request and cancelled her

surgery, without issuing Plaintiff an adverse benefits determination. (Doc. # 1 ¶¶ 40-41). Defendants did not contact any of Polonczyk’s doctors to perform a peer-to-peer evaluation at that time. (Id. ¶ 45). According to Plaintiff, she finally received a written denial of the procedures in late March or early April, but the notice was purportedly backdated to February 11, 2019. (Docs. # 1 ¶ 48 and 1-3 at 1). This notice did not include information regarding review procedures or the timing of such procedures. (Doc. # 1 ¶ 57). On May 21, 2019, Defendants informed Polonczyk that her peer-to-peer review was completed on March 15, 2019. (Id. ¶ 63). On or about June 25, 2019, Plaintiff submitted her notice of appeal

and on July 2, 2019, she submitted her actual appeal to Defendants. (Id. ¶¶ 66, 68). On July 24, 2019, Plaintiff received notice that Defendants upheld their decision to deny coverage of her facial surgeries due to the procedures being considered “cosmetic” and therefore “not medically necessary.” (Docs. # 1 ¶¶ 82-83 and 1-6 at 1). Thereafter, on September 7, 2019, Polonczyk submitted an additional appeal where she challenged Defendants previous denials of her benefits. (Docs. # 1 ¶¶ 87-88 and 1-5). On September 25, 2019, the denial of benefits was again upheld because Defendants “believe[d] this surgery [was] not medically necessary for [her]” and “[was] considered cosmetic.” (Doc. # 1-8 at 2). On November 9, 2019, Polonczyk submitted a level two appeal to Defendants. (Doc. # 1-9). Ultimately, on December 9, 2019, Defendants issued a final denial of Plaintiff’s benefits, again considering the surgeries to be “not medically necessary” and “cosmetic.” (Doc. # 1-10). Plaintiff filed the complaint following that denial. III. ANALYSIS

A. Motion to Dismiss 1. Standard of Review Granting a motion to dismiss is appropriate if a plaintiff fails “to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Further, “to survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). In order to have “facial plausibility,” the plaintiff must “plead[] factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” (Id.)

(quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). In evaluating a motion to dismiss, a court should “construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff” and “accept all well pleaded factual allegations as true.” Hill v. Snyder, 878 F.3d 193, 203 (6th Cir. 2017) (citing Ashcroft, 556 U.S. at 678; Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). However, “mere conclusory statements, do not suffice” and legal conclusions “must be supported by factual allegations.” Ashcroft, 556 U.S. at 678-79. 2. Plaintiff’s ERISA Claim under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B) Plaintiff first brings an ERISA claim under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B) alleging that Defendants wrongly denied her claim for benefits without a basis in the Plan document. (Doc. # 1 ¶¶ 102-109).

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Polonczyk v. Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/polonczyk-v-anthem-bluecross-and-blueshield-kyed-2022.