Health insurance provider Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is backtracking on a planned policy change that had recently sparked the ire of anesthesiologists.
The change, which critics said would have resulted in denied claims for anesthesia care that went beyond certain time limits, was announced weeks ago. But it attracted widespread backlash yesterday in the wake of the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson—an incident that awakened visceral discussions across social media about the ills of for-profit insurance.
“There has been significant widespread misinformation about an update to our anesthesia policy,” a spokesperson for Elevance Health, Anthem’s corporate name, told Fast Company. “As a result, we have decided to not proceed with this policy change. 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 proposed update to the policy was only designed to clarify the appropriateness of anesthesia consistent with well-established clinical guidelines.”
Last month, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) accused Anthem of unilaterally declaring that it will “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.” The group also wrote a letter to Elevance executives expressing “grave concern” about the change and urged consumers to contact their state insurance commissioners.
According to the ASA’s announcement on November 14, the change would have affected plans in Connecticut, New York State, and Missouri. It was due to take effect in February 2025.
But the ASA’s criticism received little attention until it was shared widely on Wednesday across social media sites including Bluesky, X, and Reddit. Driven by news of Thompson’s death, users cited it as an example of bad behavior from an uncaring insurance industry that prioritizes profits over people.
Thompson was gunned down in Manhattan early yesterday morning in what police have called a “brazen, targeted attack.”