Huh. That’s certainly interesting timing…
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield recently revealed a new policy in which they would no longer cover the anesthesia for the full length of all surgeries. Basically they picked an upper limit to the amount of time a surgery should take and decided any surgery that goes longer? Like, say, if something goes wrong or it ends up being more complicated? You’ll just have to feel all of that. Or, you know, pay out of pocket. This despite anesthesiologists en masse saying it’s impossible to just put arbitrary limits to how long surgery will take or how much anesthesia a person would need. But hey, they’re just the medical professionals, it’s like they’re not even looking at the profit margins!
The policy, which was to go into effect in Connecticut, New York, and Missouri first, was on its face horrifying. We’re talking about making patients choose between agonizing minutes in which the anesthesia wears off halfway through a surgery and they are forced to endure it… or potentially going broke. As if healthcare in this country isn’t brutal enough.
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Well, speaking of brutality, something changed their minds. On Thursday, the company announced they weren’t going to go through with that particular change after all. The news came, of course, right after the very public murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Thompson was shot on the street in Manhattan on Wednesday morning. While the killer has not been caught, the motive was made clear by the inclusion of three words etched into the bullet casings found at the scene: “deny,” “defend,” “depose.” Three words describing the strategy insurance companies use to keep from helping people.
Were the two things connected? Well, of note? Gail Boudreaux, the CEO of Anthem’s parent company, Elevance Health, was previously the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Huh.
Even in their announcement they’d be reversing course, they tried to defend the decision. Anthem’s spokesperson told NBC News on Wednesday the policy was only created to “safeguard against potential anesthesia provider overbilling” — you know, part of the BCBS’ “continuous efforts to improve affordability and accessibility to care.” Right, it was to help out!
Anyway, it’s not going into effect now… But don’t be surprised if they try this again. Or if they’re doing similar things already. Back in January, they announced this same policy in Massachusetts specifically for colonoscopies, butt the American Gastroenterological Association and other doctors pushed back enough that they reversed course that time, too. But clearly they weren’t convinced they shouldn’t stop testing the fences here if they decided on an even more dangerous policy just 11 months later.
Health insurance companies… It’s almost like they only exist to make money…
[Image via NYPD/Twitter.]
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