BARRY TED MOSKOWITZ, Chief District Judge.
Defendant SCAN Health Plan ("SCAN") has filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiff Twila Shakespeare's complaint. (ECF No. 4). For the reasons discussed below, the Court grants Defendant's motion.
Under the Medicare Advantage ("MA") program, created under Part C of the Medicare Act, Medicare enrollees can receive Medicare benefits through private organizations called Medicare Advantage Organizations ("MAOs"). See 42 U.S.C. § 1395 et seq. The federal government pays MAOs monthly fees and, in exchange, the MAOs offer MA plans that accord with applicable requirements and standards. 42 U.S.C. § 1395w-23.
Defendant SCAN is a public-benefit nonprofit corporation domiciled in California. (ECF No. 1-3 ("Complaint") ¶ 3). Defendant is a MAO that offers MA plans for "seniors and other Medicare eligible beneficiaries." See id.
Plaintiff Twila Shakespeare, a resident of San Diego County, California, became a member of Defendant's MA Health Maintenance Organization ("HMO") plan in 2013. Id. ¶¶ 2, 11. In June 2014, Plaintiff underwent an operation to treat her atrial fibrillation. Id. ¶ 14. As a result of the operation, Plaintiff alleges she was put "at risk for suffering a life threatening stroke caused by blood clots forming in her heart." Id. ¶ 15. According to Plaintiff, her medical providers "ordered that it was critically necessary that [she] have a `Watchman Device' implanted in her heart which would prevent strokes caused by clots in her heart." Id. ¶ 15. From October 2015 to June 2016, Defendant denied Plaintiff's request that she receive the Watchman Device. Id. ¶¶ 17, 18. On June 28, 2016, Plaintiff "suffered a major stroke." Id. ¶ 20. According to Plaintiff, her physicians "stated that had the Watchman Device been timely implanted she would never have suffered the stroke." Id. On October 12, 2016, Defendant approved the Watchman Device for Plaintiff. Id. ¶ 22.
Plaintiff alleges that "as a result of the stroke caused by [Defendant's] failure to timely approve the Watchman Device," she "suffered extreme pain, debilitating fear, overwhelming anxiety, and lost a substantial amount of work and income opportunities." Id. ¶ 23. On February 15, 2017, Plaintiff brought the following causes of action against Defendant in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Diego: (1) breach of contract; (2) negligence; (3) willful misconduct; and (4) breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Id. ¶¶ 24-49. On March 22, 2017, Defendant removed the action to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441(a), 1442(a)(1), and 1446. (ECF No. 1). Defendant now moves to dismiss Plaintiff's complaint under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). (ECF No. 4). First, Defendant argues that Plaintiff's complaint should be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because Plaintiff failed to exhaust the Medicare administrative review process. Id. Second, Defendant argues that Plaintiff's complaint should be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted because Plaintiff's claims are preempted by the Medicare Act's express preemption provision, 42 U.S.C. § 1395w-26(b)(3). Id.
"A Rule 12(b)(1) jurisdictional attack may be facial or factual. In a facial attack, the challenger asserts that the allegations contained in a complaint are insufficient on their face to invoke federal jurisdiction." Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 2004) (internal citations omitted). Failure to exhaust administrative remedies may be a barrier to federal jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1). See, e.g., Munns v. Kerry, 782 F.3d 402, 413 (9th Cir. 2015); Benson v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 673 F.3d 1207, 1209 (9th Cir. 2012).
A motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) should be granted only where a plaintiff's complaint lacks a "cognizable legal theory" or sufficient facts to support a legal claim. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dept., 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1988). When reviewing a motion to dismiss, the allegations of material fact in plaintiff's complaint are taken as true and construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Parks Sch. of Bus., Inc. v. Symington, 51 F.3d 1480, 1484 (9th Cir. 1995). Although detailed factual allegations are not required, factual allegations "must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). Only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief will survive a motion to dismiss. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009).
The Medicare Act has an exhaustion requirement, "42 U.S.C. § 405(h), [which] makes judicial review under a related provision, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), the sole avenue for judicial review for claims arising under the Medicare Act." Do Sung Uhm v. Humana, Inc., 620 F.3d 1134, 1140 (9th Cir. 2010) (internal quotations omitted). "The Supreme Court has held that the exhaustion requirement of § 405(g) consists of a non-waivable requirement that a claim for benefits shall have been presented to the Secretary, and a waivable requirement that the administrative remedies prescribed by the Secretary be pursued fully by the claimant. Only once the Secretary has issued a final decision may the individual seek judicial review of that determination. A final decision is rendered only after the individual has pressed his claim through all levels of administrative review." Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted).
"The key inquiry in determining whether § 405(h) requires exhaustion before [this Court] can exercise jurisdiction is whether the claim `arises under' the [Medicare] Act." Id. at 1141. "The Supreme Court has identified two circumstances in which a claim `arises under' the Medicare Act: (1) where the `standing and the substantive basis for the presentation of the claims' is the Medicare Act; and (2) where the claims are `inextricably intertwined' with a claim for Medicare benefits." Id. (internal citations omitted). As Plaintiff asserts state common law claims, the Medicare Act is not the standing or substantive basis for Plaintiff's claims. See Complaint ¶¶ 24-49. However, "even a state law claim may `arise under' the Medicare Act." Do Sung Uhm, 620 F.3d at 1142. Therefore the remaining question is whether Plaintiff's claims are `inextricably intertwined' with a claim for Medicare benefits.
"One category of claims that [courts] have found to arise under the Act are those cases that are cleverly concealed claims for benefits." Id. at 1141 (internal quotations omitted). Further, "whether or not [a plaintiff seeks] reimbursement of benefits is not `strongly probative' of whether a claim `arises under' the Medicare Act" as "the remedy sought [is not] dispositive of the `arising under' question." Id. at 1142. As the Ninth Circuit has explained, "our case law establishes that where, at bottom, a plaintiff is complaining about the denial of Medicare benefits . . . the claim `arises under' the Medicare Act." Id. at 1142-43.
Plaintiff alleges four causes of action: (1) breach of contract, (2) negligence, (3) willful misconduct, and (4) breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Complaint ¶¶ 24-49. All are premised on and centered around Defendant's allegedly wrongful denial and delay in approving the Watchman Device for Plaintiff. Plaintiff is therefore, at bottom, complaining about a denial and delay of Medicare benefits. Courts in this circuit have held that similar delays in administering Medicare benefits "arise under" the Medicare Act and therefore require exhaustion. See Dicrescenzo v. UnitedHealth Grp. Inc., 2015 WL 5472926, at *3 (D. Haw. Sept. 16, 2015) ("[i]nsofar as [plaintiff's] claims relate to the delay or mishandling of the coordination of benefits with respect to his eyeglasses, they are inextricably intertwined with a Medicare benefits decision, and [plaintiff] must first present them to the Secretary of Health and Human Services"); Quinones v. UnitedHealth Grp. Inc., 2015 WL 3965961, at *4 (D. Haw. June 30, 2015) ("insofar as Plaintiff's claims relate to the [year long delay in preauthorizing plaintiff for a new personal mobility device], they are inextricably intertwined with the Medicare benefits decision, and Plaintiff must first present them to the Secretary"). Plaintiff does not allege that, after Defendant's initial denial, she presented her claim to the Secretary of Health and Human Services or engaged at all in Medicare's administrative review process.
Furthermore, Plaintiff's claims could have been appropriately remedied through the Medicare Act's administrative review process had she timely engaged with it after Defendant's initial denial decision in October 2015, a factor that the Ninth Circuit has given some weight to in favor of finding that claims arise under the Medicare Act. In Do Sung Uhm v. Humana, Inc., plaintiffs submitted a prescription drug enrollment form to defendant, who provided prescription drug plans under Medicare Part D. 620 F.3d at 1138. Even though premiums were deducted from plaintiffs' social security checks, plaintiffs never received any information on how to obtain their drug benefits and were forced to buy their prescription medication out-of-pocket at costs greater than those provided by defendant's plan. Id. at 1139. In their complaint, plaintiffs alleged, among other actions, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, demanding that their premiums be returned. Id. at 1140. The Ninth Circuit held that the district court did not have jurisdiction over plaintiffs' breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims until § 405(h)'s requirements had been met. Id. at 1144. In addition to characterizing plaintiffs' claims as, "at bottom, merely creatively disguised claims for benefits," the Ninth Circuit explained that "at the time [plaintiffs'] claims arose . . . [the Medicare] Act's administrative remedial mechanisms—including the coverage determination and grievance processes—were available to them. The coverage determination process, in particular, would have allowed [plaintiffs] to secure the benefits to which they were entitled as enrollees. The coverage determination process is meant for disputes arising from [a] decision not to provide or pay for a Part D drug." Id. (internal citations and quotations omitted). Here, Plaintiff's failure to engage with § 402(h)'s requirements does not now allow her to circumvent them entirely.
Plaintiff argues that her claims do not arise under the Medicare Act by analogizing her case to the wrongful dealth claim in Ardary v. Aetna Health Plans of California, Inc., 98 F.3d 496 (9th Cir. 1996). In Ardary, Defendant, a private Medicare provider, explicitly promised a Medicare beneficiary and her family that under Defendant's plan, should the need arise, Defendant would immediately authorize transfer to a larger hospital for emergency care (the Medicare beneficiary lived in a relatively isolated area). Id. at 497. The Medicare beneficiary enrolled in Defendant's plan based on these representations. Id. However when the Medicare beneficiary subsequently suffered a heart attack, Defendant refused to authorize airlift transportation to a proper facility, resulting in the death of the Medicare beneficiary. Id. at 497-98. Plaintiffs, the surviving family members of the Medicare beneficiary, filed a wrongful death suit alleging negligence, intentional and/or negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional and/or negligent misrepresentation, and professional negligence. Id. at 498. The Ninth Circuit characterized the jurisdictional question as follows:
Id. at 499. The Ninth Circuit held that even though plaintiffs' claims were "predicated on [defendant's] failure to authorize the airlift transfer, the claims [were] not inextricably intertwined because [plaintiffs were] are bottom not seeking to recover benefits" and the death "[could not] be remedied by the retroactive authorization or payment of the airlift transfer." Id. at 500 (internal quotations omitted).
Here, however, Plaintiff's claims are not simply "predicated" on Defendant's Medicare benefits decision, they are "inextricably intertwined" with the decision. In Ardary, the question of "whether the provider both improperly denied emergency medical services and misrepresented its managed care plan to the beneficiary" could be answered largely independent of the underlying Medicare law because defendant made an explicit representation to the beneficiary that an emergency transfer would immediately be authorized. See id. at 497. Here, Plaintiff does not allege that Defendant made any such representations that they would authorize the Watchman Device for her. Aside from alleging that Defendant's Medicare benefits decision was wrong, Plaintiff does not allege any additional action on Defendant's part that would support claims wholly collateral to the decision itself. Plaintiff's claims of breach of contract, negligence, willful misconduct, and breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing would all require a determination that Plaintiff was entitled to the Watchman Device and Defendant was wrong to deny approval prior to October 12, 2016. Plaintiff's claims are therefore inextricably tied to a claim for Medicare benefits. See Kaiser v. Blue Cross of California, 347 F.3d 1107, 1115 (9th Cir. 2003) ("Hearing most of the [plaintiffs'] claims would necessarily mean redeciding [defendant's related] Medicare decisions."); Dicrescenzo, 2015 WL 5472926, at *3 ("Critically, [plaintiff's] ability to prevail on this state law cause of action inevitably turns upon a determination that [plaintiff] was entitled to a Medicare benefit, i.e., a new pair of eyeglasses, in the first place, and that [defendant] had no right to deny such a benefit because it was `reasonable and necessary' for treatment of [plaintiff's] condition. . . . That being the case, [plaintiff's] claim is `inextricably intertwined' with a Medicare benefits determination and is subject to Medicare's administrative review process.").
Because Plaintiff has already been granted the Watchman Device and seeks damages resulting from Defendant's Medicare benefits decision, the Court acknowledges that engaging in the administrative review process will not provide the relief Plaintiff seeks.
Kaiser, 347 F.3d at 1116 n.4. Here, allowing the administrative review process to first answer whether it was proper for Defendant to deny approval of the Watchman Device for Plaintiff prior to October 12, 2016 fulfills the purpose of § 405(h) exhaustion.
Because the Court finds that Plaintiff's claims arise under the Medicare Act and therefore require exhaustion, Defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to F.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) is granted.
Defendant also argues that Plaintiff's complaint should be dismissed pursuant to F.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) because Plaintiff's claims are preempted by the Medicare Act's express preemption provision. Assuming that even if Plaintiff had satisfied § 405(h)'s exhaustion requirement, the Court agrees.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services delegated to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS"), the responsibility for administering Medicare. Under Part C of the Medicare Act, CMS contracts with MAOs to provide MA plans to eligible Medicare beneficiaries. 42 U.S.C. § 1395w-23. MAOs are required to comply with the standards set forth under Part C of the Medicare Act. 42 U.S.C. § 1395w-27(a). In making Medicare benefits decisions, MAOs follow a specified procedure on the standards they must adhere to:
Medicare Program Integrity Manual, CMS Pub. 100-08, ch. 3 (November 9, 2017).
The Medicare Act's preemption provision, 42 U.S.C. § 1395w-26(b)(3), states that "[t]he standards established under this part shall supercede any State law or regulation (other than State licensing laws or State laws relating to plan solvency) with respect to MA plans which are offered by MA organizations under this part." "The plain language of the statute therefore provides that CMS `standards' supersede `any State law or regulation . . . with respect to' a [MA plan] offered by a [MAO]." See Do Sung Uhm, 620 F.3d at 1148-49. "[C]ommon law claims fall within the ambit of the Act's preemption clause." Id. at 1156.
On February 8, 2016, CMS issued a NCD for the Watchman Device. The NCD provided detailed criteria for when the device would be covered by Medicare.
The impetus behind Plaintiff's complaint appears to stem from the disconnect between her physician's recommendation and Defendant's Medicare benefit determination. Plaintiff's alleges that her physician "ordered that it was critically necessary that [she] have a `Watchman Device' implanted in her heart which would prevent strokes caused by clots in her heart." Complaint ¶ 15. Plaintiff further alleges that "[w]ith knowledge of [plaintiff's] medical condition and without regard to her physician's orders and recommendations, Defendant denied the request." Id. ¶ 17. However, in making its decision on the Watchman Device, Defendant was required to follow the standards set by CMS rather than when Plaintiff's physician deemed it to be "critically necessary." Plaintiff does not allege that she satisfied the criteria set by CMS for a Watchman Device nor does does she allege that Defendant failed to adhere to the applicable CMS standards.
In Do Sung Uhm, plaintiffs' fraud and fraud in the inducement claims were based on allegations that defendant's Medicare marketing materials were misleading. 620 F. 3d at 1150. The Ninth Circuit held those claims to be preempted by 42 U.S.C. § 1395w-26(b)(3) because "CMS promulgated detailed regulations governing how Part D sponsors market their plans" and had to "approve all PDP marketing materials before they [were] made available to Medicare beneficiaries." Id. at 1150-51. The Ninth Circuit explained that
Do Sung Uhm, 620 F.3d at 1157.
Similarly, in order to determine Plaintiff's tort claims, the Court would necessarily need to determine whether Plaintiff was entitled to the Watchman Device in the first place, a decision that is governed by detailed CMS standards. Beyond alleging that Defendant's benefit decision was wrong, Plaintiff fails to allege any other action on Defendant's part that would support Plaintiff's claims of breach of contract, negligence, willful misconduct, and breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Therefore, deciding on Plaintiff's claims would directly undermine the standards set by CMS on when the Watchman Device is covered by Medicare. As such, Plaintiff's claims are preempted. Defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to F.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) is granted.
For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Defendant's motion to dismiss with prejudice.
