Message from the ASA President

May 28, 2025

We’ve caught big insurance putting profits over patients, once again.

ASA and the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists (NYSSA) discovered a new initiative of New York State health insurers to pass legislation that imposes time limits on anesthesia care, putting patients’ lives at risk.

ASA and the NYSSA are fighting a surreptitious maneuver labeled a “hidden clause” or “concealed term” that was added to New York State Assembly Bill A5375-A and Senate Bill S7918-A, which, if enacted, would allow health insurers to arbitrarily limit coverage and payment for anesthesia services.

Last year, we fought strongly against and stopped an unprecedented policy launched by Elevance Health, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), in certain states where the insurer unilaterally declared it would no longer pay for anesthesia care if the surgery or procedure went beyond an arbitrary time limit, regardless of how long the surgical procedure took.

Public outrage and comment almost universally opposed the Anthem BCBS money grab, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in her social media post on Dec. 4, 2024, saying, ‘Outrageous. I’m going to make sure New Yorkers are protected.’ In the end, our ASA work to preserve routine and well-accepted patient care processes prevailed, but profit-driven health insurance companies have decided to try to limit the duration of anesthesia care again.

In an ASA news release issued yesterday, I noted that this added ‘hidden clause’ is designed to mislead rank and file legislators to continue thinking they are banning this nefarious arbitrary practice, but it actually does the complete opposite. It allows insurers to predetermine the time allowed for anesthesia care during surgery or a procedure, which is ridiculous. If an anesthesiologist submits a bill where the actual time of care is longer than allowed, the insurer will deny payment for the anesthesiologist’s service. With this newly added language, insurers will be allowed to deny payment to anesthesiologists for delivering safe and effective anesthesia care to patients who may need extra attention because their surgery is complex, difficult, unusual, or a complication arises.

ASA will continue to fight against such policies and support our state component societies in their efforts to pass legislation in the states that prevents health insurers from imposing arbitrary caps on anesthesia delivery time. We are committed to working with our state components to put an end to initiatives to implement this outrageous policy.

In case you missed it, last week, the Maryland Society of Anesthesiologists was successful in their efforts—Governor Wes Moore signed HB 1086, banning Maryland health insurers from limiting anesthesia time. The new law will take effect on January 1, 2026. On May 12, SB 1019, supported by the Oklahoma Society of Anesthesiologists, became law and will take effect on November 1, 2025. I commend both state components for their dedication to protecting patients from these harmful policies.

I urge New Yorkers concerned about this bill to contact their state legislator.

For our ASA,
Donald E. Arnold, MD, FACHE, FASA
President