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A new House bill would ban health insurers from imposing arbitrary time limits on patients under anesthesia — days after Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield only backed off the move amid outcry.
“We cannot trust insurers to do right by doctors and patients out of the kindness of their hearts,” Rep. Torres (D-Bronx), who is sponsoring the bill, told The Post.
“There is a need for legislation that prevents any insurer anywhere in America from micromanaging the length of anesthesia care in a medically necessary surgery,” Torres said. “The purpose of medicine should be to prevent pain, rather than cause it through the denial of anesthesia.”
The congressman’s “Anesthesia for All Act” would prohibit health insurers from determining how long a person can stay under anesthesia, threatening to withhold reimbursement if they go beyond it.
Anesthesia keeps patients from feeling pain during surgery or other procedures through heavy sedation or being temporarily put to sleep.
The proposed law would ensure reimbursement for costs is based on medical necessity as determined by the attending anesthesiologist and prohibit insurers from denying payment solely because the length of surgery or care exceeds their pre-set limit.
The furor over Anthem Blue Cross Shield’s aborted cap erupted about the same time that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down and killed in front of the Hilton hotel last week.
Authorties have said Thompson may have been murdered by a disgruntled customer — and the Internet promptly blew up with people noting how many patients have been treated poorly by the behemoth medical industry.
Torres, 36, is considering a run for governor in 2026 and has not ruled running for mayor.
Gov. Kathy Hochul had slammed Anthem for its proposed policy shift, too, and the company’s reversal came after her office contacted the insurer, she said.
“I shared my outrage at a plan from Anthem to strip away coverage from New Yorkers who had to go under anesthesia for surgery. We pushed Anthem to reverse course and today they will be announcing a full reversal of this misguided policy,” the governor said on X last week.
“Don’t mess with the health and well-being of New Yorkers — not on my watch.”
In recent weeks, Torres has publicly criticized fellow Democrat Hochul “as the new Joe Biden” who could lose to a Republican if she seeks re-election.
He has said both the city and state are poorly governed and that New York regulations “make it impossible to do business.”
Torres last month also slammed the administrations of Adams and Hochul and New York city and state lawmakers as “complicit” in the murders of three innocent people by serial stabber Ramon Rivera during a citywide rampage. He said city and state policies and laws allowed the crazed deadly Rivera to slip through the cracks and go on a killing spree.
The congressman has pivoted from earlier lefty positions he held regarding illegal border and security immigration and policing as he eyes a new office.
