Receiving Your Benefits

If Your Claim Is Denied

Appealing Denied Claims

You may appeal an Adverse Benefit Determination. Your appeal must be made in writing within 180 days of the Plan Administrator’s initial notice of an Adverse Benefit Determination (or claim denial), or else you will lose the right to appeal your denial. If you do not appeal on time, you will also lose your right to file suit in court, as you will have failed to exhaust your internal administrative appeal rights, which is generally a prerequisite to bringing suit.

Your written appeal should include the following:

the reasons you feel your claim should not have been denied.

any additional facts and/or documentation that you feel support your claim.

You can also ask additional questions and make written comments, and you may review (at no charge) documents or other information relevant to your appeal.

All written comments and documents you submit with your appeal, whether or not considered in the initial claim determination, will be reviewed and considered on appeal.

While this Summary Plan Description summarizes the major provisions of this plan, it does not provide you with every plan detail. The plan documents, which govern this plan, provide full details. If there are any discrepancies between this Summary Plan Description and the legal plan documents, the legal plan documents control.