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# Delayed policy implementation will give Highmark more time to reconsider negative reactions from patients and physicians
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/delayed_policy_implementation_0530140932/
- Published: 2014-05-30T22:31:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:31:46.000Z
- Description: The Pennsylvania Medical Society's chief executive welcomed Highmark's decision to delay its Monitored Anesthesia Care Policy, which would have ended coverage of propofol for otherwise healthy colonoscopy patients. Physician groups had argued the change was not in patients' interest.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Miscellaneous, Health News, #vivvo-import

For Immediate Release: May 30, 2014

Delayed policy implementation will give Highmark more time to reconsider negative reactions from patients and physicians

The following is a statement from Michael Fraser, PhD, chief executive officer at the Pennsylvania Medical Society, in response to Highmark’s recent decision to delay implementation of its Monitored Anesthesia Care Policy.

As Highmark-insured patients race to change scheduled colonoscopies to beat a June 30 deadline, the insurer today made a wise decision to delay and hopefully fully reconsider implementation of policy that should cause patient discomfort and physician concern. Specifically, Highmark today announced that its Monitored Anesthesia Care Policy scheduled to go into effect at the end of June will be delayed in order to hear from physicians and their patients about the change.

Highmark had planned to no longer cover the cost of Propofol for otherwise healthy individuals. Propofol is a sedation medication used in colonoscopies that has been praised by both patients and physicians across the country for its outstanding safety records and for decreasing patient discomfort level. While it is unfortunately linked to the Michael Jackson death due to misuse, when used appropriately Propofol has been credited with improved polyp detection rates, and patients say they more easily recover after the colonoscopy procedure has been completed.

Physicians representing the Pennsylvania Medical Society, Pennsylvania Society of Anesthesiologists, Pennsylvania Society of Gastroenterology, and Pennsylvania Ambulatory Surgery Association felt that this policy was not in the patient’s best interest clinically and financially. Therefore the organizations expressed their concerns with the insurer. In response, Highmark has agreed to work with the physician community over the summer to further discuss this policy. We look forward to working on this issue with Highmark, and applaud the insurer for its willingness to work with Pennsylvania physicians to address concerns.

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The Pennsylvania Medical Society was founded in 1848\. To learn more about PAMED, visit its web site at www.pamedsoc.org or follow on Twitter @PAMEDSociety. You may also follow Mike Fraser on Twitter via @PAMEDFraser. Members of the media are encouraged to follow Chuck Moran on Twitter @ChuckMoran7\.