I remember – as a kid – watching on TV the “old cowboy shows” when one of them got SHOT and the old country doctor was going to dig out the bullet and they would give the patient some WHISKEY and a small tree branch to “chew on” while the doctor begins to DIG THE BULLET OUT!

Back in the mid-1800s in the USA the average life expectancy was ~ 40 y/o. When the USA started our social security program and the first check was issued to Ida May Fuller in Feb 1940 for the magnificent amount of $22.54. However, > 50% of workers would not live to the ripe old age of 65 y/o to collect their first social security check.

Here is a quote from https://www.elevancehealth.com/

Elevance Health brings together the concepts of elevate and advance, exemplified by our bold purpose of improving the health of humanity. We are a health company dedicated to making real progress toward improving the health of the people and communities we serve.

Anthem BCBS drops controversial new plan to cap anesthesia coverage after backlash

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/12/05/anesthesia-policy-anthem-bcbs/76796002007/

After receiving intense backlash, a health insurance provider has rolled back its plan to implement a new policy that would have limited its coverage for anesthesia used during procedures.

Elevance Health, which recently rebranded from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, first shared information about the proposed change for Connecticut, New York and Missouri via news releases posted Nov. 1, though the news only just started gaining traction this week. In some instances, provider notices were sent to specific states as recently as Dec. 1, which may have contributed to the delayed reaction.

Delayed or not, the public backlash has been fierce and swift. According to a description of the policy on Anthem’s website, billing guidelines would change in some states beginning in February 2025 to cap the amount of anesthesia care the company would cover based on time limits pre-set by the insurer.

This would mean that if a patient’s procedure ran long, the insurer would not pay for the care, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) said in a statement posted last month calling for the move to be reversed.

The proposition concerned not only members of the public, who began making tongue-in-cheek comments online about being woken up mid-surgery to swipe a credit card, but professional organizations, doctors and lawmakers alike.

Late Thursday afternoon, Anthem shared a statement with USA TODAY announcing the decision not to move forward with the change.

“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 statement 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.”

Filed under: General Problems