Kitterman v. Coventry Health Care of Iowa, Inc.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

In the fall of 2008, Diane Kitterman’s 1 family physician informed her that she had ovarian cancer. He advised that she try to have the cancer removed and, to that end, referred her to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

At that time, Kitterman was participating in a health insurance benefit plan administered by Coventry. Prior to scheduling her procedure at the Mayo Clinic, Kitterman contacted a customer-service representative at Coventry to discuss her plan’s coverage. The representative told Kitterman that the Mayo Clinic was an “out-of-network” or…