A bill that would ban anesthesia time limits in Illinois has unanimously passed out of the state Senate, according to a May 22 report from WAND.
The bill was proposed in January by Republican Illinois state Rep. Bill Hauter, MD, in response to a policy floated by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in November 2024 that would have placed time limits on procedures using anesthesia in Missouri, New York and Connecticut. Following blowback from patients, physicians and industry groups, Anthem withdrew the proposal.
Several other states are also taking legislative action to ban such time limits altogether, including Washington, Missouri and New Jersey.
In February, the Illinois bill, which would make it illegal for insurance companies to place a time limit on anesthesia payment coverage no matter how long a procedure lasts, passed out of the state insurance committee unanimously. In May it passed unanimously out of the Illinois Senate insurance committee.
The bill has now passed its final hurdle before continuing to the governor’s desk to potentially be signed into law.
