Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield — which represents policyholders in New York, Connecticut and Missouri — announced last month that it would deny claims when a patient was kept under anesthesia longer than the time it determined was necessary by the specific procedure.  This was a public relations disaster for an insurance company whose goal was to prevent surprise billing, a major cost driver in American heal care.

The public relations disaster was engineered by a avaricious group of anesthesiologists who were determined to kill any effort to control surgery costs.  This story has been completely misrepresented in the corporate media, so we go to Not The Bee for a genuine investigative report on the issue:

https://notthebee.com/takes/we-all-got-suckered-into-a-media-blitz-that-forced-an-insurance-company-to-reverse-course-lets-talk-about-it

We all got suckered by a media blitz that forced an insurance company to reverse course. Let's talk about it.

By Joel Abbott

Yesterday, we reported on Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield changing coverage policy for knockout gas during surgery:

Anthem BCBS says it will no longer pay for the "complete duration of anesthesia" during surgeries 😵

Excuse me while I go double-check and see what my own insurance covers:

NOTTHEBEE.COM

https://notthebee.com/article/anthem-insurance-says-it-will-no-longer-pay-for-the-complete-duration-of-anesthesia-during-surgeries-

There's definite reasons to criticize the policy, but everyone seemed to be worried that they would be woken up halfway through surgery or that they might be on the hook for thousands of dollars if their surgery went longer than expected.

The media, including outlets on the Right, ran wild with the story because it was relevant to the national discussion on health insurance after UnitedHealthcare's CEO was assassinated earlier this week.

As time went on, however, there were a few red flag warnings. First, the original press release came from the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

 

Why is this important?

Well, anesthesiologists are the ones who would have lost money under this new policy. Of course they are going to be upset if an insurance company tried to keep them from earning extra cash by charging more for surgeries that already cost more than a new car.

This doesn't mean their concerns are illegitimate or corrupt; it just means you should always be suspect of anyone who is pushing for something when they have a direct financial stake in the outcome. Are they truly concerned about patients, or their wallets?

The second red flag was the celebration by far-left politicians, like New York's governor, when Anthem BCBS reversed course:

When you dig into the documentation, it's clear that this change in policy was meant to keep doctors accountable by agreeing on rates ahead of time. There were also exceptions for minors and pregnant women.

 

Say a surgery takes 45 minutes to complete. It might cost $20,000, with a huge chunk of that being anesthesia. But what if the surgery takes longer? More anesthetic will need to be used. That means more money for the doctors.

What the insurance company wanted to do was set fixed rates for surgeries ahead of time.

As bloated and unsustainable as it is, taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid require doctors to have similar caps:

This is why Community Notes got involved on X:

Anesthesiologist providers very often have been found participating in surprise billing, and this change attempts to close this loophole.

Human nature is human nature. The way to make sure the self-interested doctors and the self-interested insurance companies do what is best for the customer instead of themselves is to allow the customer to actually be involved in the conversation about pricing and care, but our government has done a great job of making sure that's nearly impossible (this is why DOGE's reforms can't come soon enough).

What's left are professionals arguing about the scraps.

Are the doctors right? Are the insurance companies the corrupt ones here?

Or were they trying to help their customers? Will this reversal lead to higher costs and more denied claims because Anthem BCBS has to try to save money elsewhere?

I don't know.

The point of this article is not to tell you how to fix our medical system.

The point is to help you identify propaganda campaigns. The doctors and their allies got what they wanted because people didn't realize such a campaign was underway.

Think about that the next time you see media headlines coordinating a targeted attack on something or someone.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.

Many of the tweets in this article did not reproduce, so you will need to visit Not The Bee at the hyperlink, above, to see them.