Committee hears bills to bar insurer time limits on anesthesia coverage

The Missouri House Committee on Insurance held a public hearing on House Bills 11-26 and 9-32 to consider measures that would forbid health insurers from imposing fixed time limits or reimbursement caps on anesthesia services during surgery.

The bills were presented together by Representative David Tyson Smith (Representative, District 46) and Representative Farooza, who said the measures are “preventative” responses to a recent insurer policy proposal. “This is basically a preventative bill to say that insurance companies in general cannot limit the coverage of anesthesia services, during a surgery,” Smith said, adding the bills would also prohibit caps on reimbursement.

Supporters told the committee the bills are aimed at protecting patient safety and preserving clinical discretion. An anesthesiologist from the University of Missouri at Columbia testified that an insurer policy last year that would have capped anesthesia payment “would have made it harder for…