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).
