BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Late Thursday afternoon, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield reversed course on a controversial plan to no longer cover anesthesia for the full length of certain surgeries in New York.
According to Dr. Jonathan Gal with the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the original plan would have led to any insurance claims for anesthesia over a set amount by Anthem to have been denied coverage.
Anthem shared this statement with 7 News Wednesday afternoon:
“There has been significant widespread misinformation about an update to our anesthesia policy. 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.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul was very critical of this potential change, sharing her opinions on X.
Outrageous. I’m going to make sure New Yorkers are protected. https://t.co/Mqtjeu0ZD7
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 5, 2024
The governor released this statement Thursday afternoon.
“Last night, I shared my outrage at a plan from Anthem to strip away coverage from New Yorkers who had to go under anesthesia for surgery. We pushed Anthem to reverse course and today they will be announcing a full reversal of this misguided policy.
Don’t mess with the health and well-being of New Yorkers — not on my watch.”
I spoke with Dr. Gal before Anthem made this decision. He's a professor at the Icahn School at Mount Sinai and economic chair of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
“It seemed unbelievable, to be quite honest with you, and short-sighted for that matter,” Gal said. “It's incomprehensible how a health insurance company could so blatantly continue to prioritize their profits over safe patient care.”
The state of New York is covered by three entirely separate Blue Cross Blue Shield companies: Anthem, Excellus, and Highmark.
Anthem was the only health care provider of those three proposing this change.
