Personal Injury Law

Aetna Joins With Other Insurers in Denying Anesthetic Used In Colonoscopies

By Greg Webb

Aetna, one of the leading national private health plan managers, has joined with other insurers, such as WellPoint and Humana, to declare it will not cover a powerful anesthetic, Propofol, used to eliminate discomfort during a colonoscopy. A colonoscopy is a common form of colon cancer screening which allows doctors to explore the small intestine to identify and remove cancerous tumors before becoming dangerous. Aetna has deemed Propofol as being "medically unnecessary" for the procedure and will stop insuring the use of it on April 1, 2008. However, exceptions are being made for people over 65, pregnant women, and patients with illnesses that cannot use other more risky drugs.

Full post as published by Charlottesville Personal Injury Lawyer on January 07, 2008 (boomark / email).