Which do we think is more likely: A health-insurance company saw the backlash to an obviously messed-up policy and decided to walk it back out of the goodness of their heart? Or it caught up on the news, realized people really do not like insurance companies, and nixed the policy? We’ll never know! What we can be certain of is that, for some reason, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield decided to be a little less evil on Thursday and announced that it would not be moving forward with a policy that would have limited anesthesia coverage.
Per CBS News, the original policy statement said that Anthem would only pay for anesthesia “for the length of time that a procedure or surgery is estimated to require based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s physician work time values.” Basically, if your procedure took longer than Anthem thought it should, Anthem wasn’t going to pay for the anesthesia. The policy would have gone into effect next year in Connecticut, New York, and Missouri.
Obviously, this caused an uproar with anesthesiologists, politicians, and people who don’t want to pay for their own anesthesia just because their life-saving surgery went a little long. The American Society of Anesthesiologists sounded the alarm back in November, releasing a statement condemning Anthem.
“This is just the latest in a long line of appalling behavior by commercial health insurers looking to drive their profits up at the expense of patients and physicians providing essential care,” said anesthesiologist Donald E. Arnold. “It’s a cynical money grab by Anthem.”
Connecticut senator Chris Murphy wrote that the policy was “appalling.” New York governor Kathy Hochul quote-tweeted Pop Crave (!) and called the whole thing “outrageous.”
Outrageous. I’m going to make sure New Yorkers are protected. https://t.co/Mqtjeu0ZD7
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 5, 2024
After everyone got rightfully furious with the company, Anthem released a statement saying that it wasn’t moving forward with the policy.
“Based on feedback received and misinterpretation of our policy change, it is evident that our communication regarding this policy was not clear, and as a result, we have decided to not proceed with this policy change,” the company shared.
I believe this is corporate talk for, “Damn, you guys caught us in our craven attempt at making money off of your hardships. Our bad.”
