COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 2372 into law Monday that includes several overhauls to healthcare laws in the state.

HB 2372, was sponsored by state Rep. Tara Peters (R-Phelps County) and state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter (R-Cole County). One provision in the bill, bans health insurers from placing time limits on anesthesia coverage during surgery.

In 2024, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield proposed a policy that would have limited reimbursement for anesthesia based on insurer-set time limits for surgeries and medical procedures.

State Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia), who sponsored the anesthesia provision, said the goal was to protect Missourians from big health insurance corporations.

"People were outraged, I think all over the country that Anthem Blue Cross tried to do this, and so they eventually backed off," Tyson Smith said "I filed a bill that said look, no insurance company could do this and so this says across the board in missouri, you're protected, if you're under the knife and you're in surgery, they can't stop paying for your health seizure,"

Tyson Smith said insurance companies opposed the proposal, though he believes they were reluctant to publicly challenge it after the backlash over Anthem's anesthesia reimbursement policy push.

"Insurance companies generally don't like it, they might not publicly say it but the governor mentioned he had some pushback from insurance companies," he said, "When we filed that the first time, right after everything happened and everybody knew about it, their insurance companies were quite as a church mouse. When it came up in committee, there was someone there from anthem, they sat in the back, didn't say a word because they were embarrassed."

When asked why he believes insurance companies would seek a time limit on anesthesia coverage, Tyson Smith said he believes it comes down to money.

"It's money, we all know that, right? That'd be the only reason they would only lodge reason they wouldn't want to pay for it," Tyson Smith said. "The six year coverage would be money and to the detriment of people's lives, it's totally unacceptable and the fact that they would put this forward is disgusting,"

According to a health survey by Ambulatory Surgery Centers, 67% of respondents found anesthesia coverage to be their top-three financial challenges and expectations to pay anesthesia stipends jumped from 28% in 2024 to 44% in 2025.

Tyson Smith said there was was not a lot of opposition on the measure and it moved well through both chambers. The anesthesia portion of the bill goes into effect on Aug. 28.

Other provisions in the bill included in the bill, includes the fight against Alpha-gal syndrome. Alpha-gal is a tick-borne allergy that triggers severe reactions to red meat and mammal byproducts.

The bill requires any case of AGS to be reported to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services within seven days of a positive test. DHSS is also required to submit a report to the Centers for Disease Control.

Cases of Lyme Disease are also required to be reported to DHSS.

The bill also allows patients to establish relationships with physicians through telehealth interactions and by reducing barriers for ambulance services.