Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Is Reversing Its Decision to Limit Anesthesia Coverage

The health insurance company Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield will no longer be rolling out a new policy that would have capped coverage for anesthesia during surgeries in several U.S. states.

On Thursday, Dec. 5, Anthem told PEOPLE that the new policy — which would have applied to patients undergoing surgery in Connecticut, Missouri and New York — will not be going into effect.

“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,” Anthem told PEOPLE in a statement.

“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 insurer added. “The proposed update to the policy was only designed to clarify the appropriateness of anesthesia consistent with well-established clinical guidelines.”

According to Anthem’s initial announcement about the new policy on Nov. 1, the insurance provider would have set predetermined time limits that patients could be under anesthetics during a surgery or procedure. After the time limit is up, the patient’s anesthesia services would not be covered.

“Claims submitted with reported time above the established number of minutes will be denied,” Anthem wrote in its initial announcement, noting that the policy would not apply to maternity-related care or children under age 22. “This update will not change industry standard coding requirements or the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ (ASA) anesthesia formula.”

The company previously said the change was part of an effort to make health care more affordable and stop overbilling for anesthesia, per CNN. It was originally supposed to go into effect on Feb. 1, 2025.

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The policy was the subject of much criticism, including by legislators and the ASA, who released a statement on Nov. 14, calling for Anthem to “reverse the proposal immediately.”

“Anesthesiologists provide individualized care to every patient, carefully assessing the patient’s health prior to the surgery, looking at existing diseases and medical conditions to determine the resources and medical expertise needed, attending to the patient during the entire procedure, resolving unexpected complications that may arise and/or extend the duration of the surgery, and working to ensure that the patient is comfortable during recovery,” the ASA wrote in its statement, adding that the time limit was arbitrary.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sent out a statement on Thursday, sharing the news of Anthem’s decision to reverse the policy.

“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,” Hochul said in part in the statement, per ABC News. “We pushed Anthem to reverse course and today they will be announcing a full reversal of this misguided policy.”

Connecticut Comptroller Sean Scanlon wrote in a post on X Thursday that he was “pleased” after Anthem announced the policy would no longer exist.

“After hearing from people across the state about this concerning policy, my office reached out to Anthem, and I’m pleased to share this policy will no longer be going into effect here in Connecticut,” he wrote.