It is rare that I get to write about kind of breaking news.
Today there were two separate reports about insurance companies.
12/4/24- United Healthcare CEO Andrew Witty was fatally shot by an unknown assailant outside of a hotel in New York City, and the killing was captured on hotel surveillance. The victim was due to host an investor day in a Hilton hotel. The suspect has not been located. United Healthcare is the largest private health insurer in the U.S.
I don’t have a lot to add except that United Health Care had the largest denial of care rate of all the major insurers.
11/14/24- (not sure why this is just gaining traction today)- Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield announced that it would not be paying anesthesia costs for the entire duration of a surgery in 3 states. The states are Connecticut, New York, and Missouri. Instead, it would only pay for a certain amount of hours of surgery. Presumably, the patients or the hospital, or the anesthesiologist would have to eat the remaining cost of the anesthesia.
Wow.
No idea where this idea came from. Greed, probably. The insurance parent company reported a 24% year-over-year profit increase in June 2024.
No idea how the decisions were made for how long each surgery will be covered. Presumably not by surgeons.
Because a surgeon would know and understand that there are unforeseen things that can happen during surgery that would make it longer. Does the insurance brain trust that came up with this think that surgeons are just making surgeries longer for the hell of it?
To me, 2 1/2 years into a research degree, this smacks of pilot study.
To be expanded to other states when they can.
You know, for the money. Certainly not for the patients.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 