ASA Urges Congress to Hold Health Insurers Accountable at Health Care Affordability Hearings

In advance of Congress convening two hearings focused on health care affordability, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) urged Congress to hold health insurers accountable for practices that increase costs, undermine patient access to care, and destabilize the health care system.

In a formal statement submitted to both the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, ASA emphasized that anesthesiologists are good actors in a system that far too often rewards obstruction rather than partnership.

ASA President Patrick Giam, M.D., FASA, noted: “Despite an anesthesiologist’s central role in maintaining high standards of care in a cost-effective manner, our members continue to face unnecessary and time-consuming disputes with large health insurers. Recent years have been marked by payer-driven behaviors that divert scarce health care dollars away from clinical services and undermine the very premium dollars intended to support patient access and quality. Payer policy changes have been increasingly reckless in the past few years, oftentimes announcing policy changes mid-year, without warning, and in a punitive way against physicians providing quality care to the payer’s customers.”

ASA warned that insurer practices such as arbitrarily limiting anesthesia coverage, refusing to recognize the added work required to care for complex and high‑risk patients, and penalizing facilities for contracting networks are short‑sighted and harmful. These policies ignore clinical realities, erode provider networks, and put patient access to essential surgical and hospital‑based care at risk, particularly in rural and underserved communities.