By Pat Anson

One of the nation’s largest health insurers is under fire for making plans to cutoff coverage of anesthesia care if a surgery or procedure lasts too long. The criticism was so widespread, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield reversed course and said it would not implement the policy.

In early November, Anthem said it will not allow anesthesiologists to bill for services that exceed time frame standards adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The only exceptions were for patients under the age of 22 and for maternity-related care.

Anthem’s policy would have applied to hundreds of procedures on specific body areas, including the head, neck, spine, leg and elbow. The anesthesia services covered include general anesthesia, when a patient is kept unconscious during a major operation, as well as local and regional anesthesia, which would include epidurals, nerve blocks and injections that numb selected areas.

“We will utilize the CMS Physician Work Time values to target the number of minutes reported for anesthesia services. Claims submitted with reported time above the established number of minutes will be denied,” Anthem said in a notice sent to providers in New York state.

The proposed policy covered to all anesthesia care that occurs before, during and after surgery – meaning the clock would start ticking the minute an anesthesiologist goes to work.

“Ridiculous. Does Anthem expect a patient to get up in the middle of a surgery and walk away?” New York State Sen. Mike Gianaris tweeted.

“As someone who has had 10 surgeries in the last 17 years, I have NEVER had a surgery end sooner than the estimated time. What Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is proposing is MONSTROUS,” patient advocate Peter Morley posted on Bluesky. “Fortunately I have Medicare but don’t think this doesn’t weigh heavily on me and others preparing for surgery now & in the future. How many will cancel their surgeries because of this?”

In addition to New York, Anthem also sent notices about the policy change to providers in Connecticut, Missouri and Colorado. It’s not clear if other states would be affected.

“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,” Donald Arnold, MD, President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), said 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. This egregious policy breaks the trust between Anthem and its policyholders who expect their health insurer to pay physicians for the entirety of the care they need.”

The ASA urged people opposed to Anthem’s plan to contact their state insurance commissioner or state legislators.

Although Anthem’s policy was announced over a month ago, it only recently started attracting public attention and outrage.

“This is appalling. Saddling patients with thousands of dollars in surprise additional medical debt. And for what? Just to boost corporate profits?” tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.  

In response to the backlash, Anthem released a new statement today claiming it was all a misunderstanding.

“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,” the company said. “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.”

Elevance Health, the parent company of Anthem, recently reported operating revenue of $44.7 billion in the third quarter of 2024, an increase of $2.2 billion from the same period a year ago. Elevance provides insurance, pharmacy and medical services to about 113 million consumers.