Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield publicly backtracked its decision to limit coverage of anesthesia during surgical procedures—following a massive explosion of backlash against the industry in the wake of the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Following Thompson's assassination, critics of the healthcare insurance industry were quick to mock—and even celebrate—the CEO's death.
Some even cracked jokes about how Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, which announced its news this week, should be targeted next.
The insurance giant had previously decided to "no longer pay for anesthesia care if the surgery or procedure goes beyond an arbitrary time limit, regardless of how long the surgical procedure takes," according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists. The move would have encompassed plans representing Connecticut, New York, and Missouri.
The change would have excluded those under age 22 and maternity care.
A spokesperson for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield told the Lever that the company "decided not to proceed" with the move due to "significant widespread misinformation about an update to our anesthesia policy."
"To be clear, it never was and never will be the policy of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to not pay for medically necessary anesthesia services," the statement continued. "The proposed update to the policy was only designed to clarify the appropriateness of anesthesia consistent with well-established clinical guidelines."
Defenders of the proposal had argued it would limit surprise billing from anesthesiologists.
But critics, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists, argued the policy change would inhibit the delivery of "safe and effective anesthesia care to patients who may need extra attention because their surgery is difficult, unusual or because a complication arises."
The insurer's reversal follows Connecticut’s comptroller stating the policy would not go into effect in that state, and New York similarly stepping in to block the plan.
Now, critics online are reveling in the reversal—and some are chalking it up to their grim jokes in the wake of the UHC assassination, especially after bullet casings revealed an anti-insurance giants message.
"Europeans watching Americans fix their healthcare system with gun violence," quipped one person on X.
"Fixing America’s healthcare system with gun violence is the most Americanist shit I ever seen," echoed one user.
"Lmao at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield absolutely folding after yesterday," remarked someone else, along with a meme attributing the reversal to the United Healthcare assassin.
Mocked another person: "interesting timing on that decision... guess some executives suddenly got real sensitive about pain management."
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post United Healthcare CEO shooter’s folk status grows as Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield reverses anesthesia payment cap appeared first on The Daily Dot.
