Summary
dismissing providers' suit against an insurer because "the New York Emergency Services and Surprise Bills Act . . . does not provide for a private right of action to enforce its provisions"
Summary of this case from Haller v. U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Servs.Opinion
7842 Index 651937/17
12-11-2018
BUFFALO EMERGENCY ASSOCIATES, LLP, et al., Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. AETNA HEALTH, INC. (New York), et al., Defendants–Respondents.
Arent Fox LLP, Washington, DC (Caroline Turner English of the bar of the District of Columbia and the State of Virginia, admitted pro hac vice, of counsel), for appellants. Connell Foley LLP, New York (Patricia A. Lee of counsel), and Elliot Greenleaf, P.C., Blue Bell, PA (Gregory S. Voshell of the bar of the State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, admitted pro hac vice, of counsel), for respondents.
Arent Fox LLP, Washington, DC (Caroline Turner English of the bar of the District of Columbia and the State of Virginia, admitted pro hac vice, of counsel), for appellants.
Connell Foley LLP, New York (Patricia A. Lee of counsel), and Elliot Greenleaf, P.C., Blue Bell, PA (Gregory S. Voshell of the bar of the State of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, admitted pro hac vice, of counsel), for respondents.
Sweeny, J.P., Renwick, Mazzarelli, Oing, Moulton, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (O. Peter Sherwood, J.), entered November 27, 2017, which granted defendants' motion to dismiss the amended complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The New York Emergency Services and Surprise Bills Act (the Act) does not provide for a private right of action to enforce its provisions, and the court properly dismissed the complaint as an improper effort to "circumvent the legislative preclusion of private lawsuits" for violation of the Act ( Han v. Hertz Corp. , 12 A.D.3d 195, 196, 784 N.Y.S.2d 106 [1st Dept. 2004] ). In any event, plaintiffs' claim for unjust enrichment was also deficient in that the complaint did not allege an equitable obligation running from defendants to plaintiffs, a required element of this cause of action ( Corsello v. Verizon N.Y., Inc. , 18 N.Y.3d 777, 790–791, 944 N.Y.S.2d 732, 967 N.E.2d 1177 [2012] ). Plaintiffs similarly failed to state a cause of action for declaratory relief, as this cause of action "is intended to declare the respective legal rights of the parties based upon a given set of facts, not to declare findings of fact," such as the amount that plaintiffs are entitled to be reimbursed for their services ( Touro Coll. v. Novus Univ. Corp. , 146 A.D.3d 679, 679, 45 N.Y.S.3d 458 [1st Dept. 2017] ).
We have considered plaintiffs' remaining arguments and find them unavailing.