Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield on Thursday reversed a policy change denying patients’ claims for anesthesia treatment after growing public opposition, according to multiple reports.
The proposed policy change would suspend anesthesia reimbursement for patients in New York, Connecticut and Missouri if the procedure is performed beyond the allotted deadline. The company retracted its initial statement after receiving significant backlash.
“Based on all the feedback we received in the past 24 hours, we found our policy communications to be unclear, which is why we are retracting them,” said Janie Kiriruik, vice president of corporate communications at Elevance Health. Masu. Anthem’s parent company is said New York Times.
Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul was among those to criticize the policy.
no way. We’re going to make sure we protect New Yorkers. https://t.co/Mqtjeu0ZD7
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 5, 2024
“Outrageous. I’m going to make sure New Yorkers are protected,” she tweeted in response to the original policy.
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield sent a letter to health care providers explaining the policy on Nov. 1, the newspaper reported, but United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson The policy came under intense scrutiny Thursday following the assassination.
Many social media users praised the murder, citing United Healthcare’s high claim denial rate.
UHC has the most claims denied of any U.S. insurance company. How many people died and suffered because of their refusal? How many families suffered? No one is crying for wealthy CEOs who make billions on the backs of sick people who are denied care. https://t.co/9B52SFAvfh pic.twitter.com/EL1F9RZ01A
— 🅹🅰🆇 🅿🅰🅶🅴 🇵🇸 🇲🇽 (@jakki_jax) December 4, 2024
The backlash appears to have prompted many major insurance companies, including Anthem, to remove information about company executives from their websites.
NEW: Several major health insurance companies (Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, CareSource, Medica, and Elevance Health) have removed the pages on their websites listing their leadership following the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO. https://t.co/DSRZbpiBg8
— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) December 6, 2024
