Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is guarding itself from major blowback that has heightened after the CEO of UnitedHealthcare was killed on Wednesday.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in front of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan, and the suspect, who has yet to be caught, left behind bullet shell casings at the scene that had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them.
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These words are often used to describe tactics insurance companies use to avoid paying claims. While the New York City Police Department hasn’t confirmed a motive for the shooting yet, it did say that it was a “premeditated, preplanned targeted attack.”
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After the shooting, many people took to social media to express outrage over the health insurance industry’s long history of denying insurance claims, even for people who are terminally ill. This scrutiny has put a magnifying glass on the many controversial practices that health insurance companies across the country have adopted.
Blue Cross Blue Shield's controversial policy sparks outrage
As the backlash continues to multiply, Blue Cross Blue Shield has opted to reverse course on a strict coverage policy that was set to go into effect in February 2025.
In November, Blue Cross Blue Shield announced a policy stating it would no longer pay for some of its customers’ anesthesia care if the surgery or procedure exceeds a specific time limit, regardless of how long it takes.
The policy would have excluded maternity care and individuals under 22 years old. It would also have only affected those under the organization’s insurance plans in Connecticut, New York and Missouri.
Shortly after the policy was announced, the American Society of Anesthesiologists issued a November press release calling the new proposal “appalling,” emphasizing that unexpected complications can arise during surgery.
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“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,” said Dr. Donald Arnold, ASA president, in the press release. “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.”
The policy also recently gained widespread attention and criticism on social media platform X.
are these people out of their minds????
— #MindYourBusiness 🐶 (@britneyxytube) December 4, 2024
The policy even made some people question the purpose of their health insurance plans.
Why am i paying for healthcare? Nothing is ever covered, they take ages to respond when I'm here dying, unless i call to bug nothing gets done. Someone make it make sense.
— GandalfTheGay (@gandalfthegay94) December 4, 2024
Amid the recent scrutiny, Blue Cross Blue Shield released a statement on Dec. 5 stating that it has decided to pull the plug on rolling out the policy next year due to “significant widespread misinformation.”
“The proposed update to the policy was only designed to clarify the appropriateness of anesthesia consistent with well-established clinical guidelines,” said Blue Cross Blue Shield in the statement. “Any medically necessary anesthesia would have been paid under the update. In circumstances when anesthesia providers went outside of well-established clinical guidelines, they would have been able to submit medical documentation to support accurate payment.”
Health insurance companies are quietly making significant updates
Blue Cross Blue Shield’s shift in gears comes after it quietly updated its leadership page on its website, which listed who its CEO and executives were, to redirect to its “about us” page. This appears to be a budding trend among health insurance companies that started after Thompson was killed.
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UnitedHealthcare also recently changed its website's “about us” page, which detailed its leadership, to redirect to its homepage. CareSource, another health insurance provider, also removed individual pages for all of its executive leadership on its website.
While a few other small health insurance companies have also begun participating in this trend, major companies such as Humana and Aetna still have their leadership pages up and running on their websites.
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