One of the country's largest health insurance companies, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, announced that it would no longer cover anesthesia care during surgery procedures if they pass an arbitrary time limit — only to partially reverse the policy after an enraged outcry.
The change was set to be implemented in Connecticut, New York, Missouri, and possibly Colorado starting early next year. However, the decision has already been overturned in Connecticut, highlighting the sheer unpopularity of the change.
The announcement, which was met with outrage by the medical community, couldn't have come at a worse time. News of the change made its rounds in the media roughly a day after the assassination of UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson this week.
Thompson was fatally shot in midtown Manhattan early Wednesday morning, sparking a fiery debate online surrounding the notorious deficiencies of the private insurance industry in the US.
And Anthem appears to have read the room, quickly and quietly reversing the policy in Connecticut, as the Stamford Advocate reports.
"After hearing from people across the state about this concerning policy, my office reached out to Anthem, and I'm pleased to share this policy will no longer be going into effect here in Connecticut," the state's Comptroller Sean Scanlon tweeted.
It's unclear whether the new policy will still go into effect in New York, Missouri, and Colorado.
Nonetheless, the news has reignited plenty of anger over Americans being denied care and potentially having to face skyrocketing healthcare costs.
According to the new change, Anthem will only cover the number of minutes under anesthesia "to the [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] amount," the company wrote.
The policy change was met with sheer outrage by experts.
"The American Society of Anesthesiologists calls on Anthem to reverse this proposal immediately," the group wrote in a strongly-worded rebuke, arguing that anesthesiologists provide individualized care, including "resolving unexpected complications that may arise and/or extend the duration of the surgery."
"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 ASA president Donald Arnold in a statement. "It’s a cynical money grab by Anthem, designed to take advantage of the commitment anesthesiologists make thousands of times each day to provide their patients with expert, complete and safe 'anesthesia care.'"
"A policy like this is directly dangerous to patients’ well-being, regarding the quality of the procedures they receive and the financial strain they could face after the fact," Connecticut senator and chair of the Public Health Committee Saud Anwar said in a separate statement.
Anthem has since claimed that the change was designed to make "health care simpler and more affordable," according to a statement to a Connecticut Fox affiliate. "One of the ways to achieve that goal is to help ensure that claims are accurately coded, and providers are reimbursed appropriately for the services they provide to members."
But whether that kind of explanation will sit well with patients is unlikely.
Meanwhile, on social media, users traded grim jokes about the egregious new policy.
"Babe wake up your surgery isn’t done yet but we can’t afford any more anesthesia," toxicologist Josh Trebach tweeted.
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