What Do I Do If My Claim Is Denied? Property of Bind Benefits, Inc., d/b/a Surest. All rights reserved © 2026. 64 Within the applicable timeframe after receipt of the request, Surest will complete a preliminary review to determine whether the individual for whom the request was submitted meets all of the following criteria: • Is or was covered under the Surest Plan at the time the health care service or procedure that is at issue in the request was provided. • The denial does not relate to your eligibility to participate in the Plan. • Has exhausted the applicable internal appeals process or is deemed to have exhausted the internal appeals process. • Has provided all the information and forms required for Surest to process the request. After completing the preliminary review, Surest will issue a notification in writing to you within one business day. If the request is eligible for external review, Surest will assign an IRO to conduct such review. Surest will assign requests by either rotating assignments among the IROs or by using a random selection process. If the request is complete but not eligible for external review, Surest will provide notification that includes the reasons for ineligibility and contact information for the Employee Benefits Security Administration. If the request is not complete, the notification will describe the information or materials needed to make the request complete; you will have at least 48 hours (or, if longer, until the end of the four-month filing period) to complete the request. The IRO will timely notify you in writing whether the request is eligible for external review. Within 10-business days following the date of receipt of the notice, you may submit in writing to the IRO additional information for the IRO to consider in conducting the external review. The IRO is not required to, but may, accept and consider additional information submitted by you after 10-business days. Surest will provide to the assigned IRO the documents and information considered in making the determination, including: • All relevant medical records. • All other documents relied upon by Surest. • All other information or evidence that you or your Physician submitted. If there is any information or evidence you or your Physician wish to submit that was not previously provided, you may include this information with your external review request and Surest will include it with the documents forwarded to the IRO. In reaching a decision, the IRO will review the Claim as new and not be bound by any decisions or conclusions reached by Surest. The IRO will provide written notice of its determination (the “Final External Review Decision”) within 45 days after receiving the request for the external review (unless they request additional time, and you agree). The IRO will deliver the notice of Final External Review Decision to you and Surest, and it will include the clinical basis for the determination. Upon receipt of a Final External Review Decision reversing the determination made by Surest, the Surest Plan will immediately provide coverage or payment for the Benefit Claim at issue in