Legislation Introduced to Prevent Limitation on Anesthesia Coverage
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Following last week’s public uproar over Anthem’s now-set aside policy that would have reduced coverage for anesthesia for the full length of certain surgeries in New York and in other states, legislation has been advanced in both Congress (by Rep. Torres) and the NYS Legislature (by Sen. Rivera) to require anesthesia coverage for the entire duration of a surgery.
MSSNY had joined forces with the NYS Society of Anesthesiologists (NYSSA) to oppose this Anthem policy to limit anesthesia coverage that had been announced on November 1 and would have been applicable to surgeries in New York, Connecticut and Missouri. Following public outrage over the misguided policy, the health insurer announced late last week that it was reversing course following the expression of outrage by numerous high-profile policymakers across multiple states, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul: Governor Kathy Hochul/ X
MSSNY will continue to work with NYSSA and other specialty societies together with state lawmakers to advocate for needed reform of aberrant health insurer practices that interfere with needed patient care.
