Medicare using Aritficial Intelligence

September 2, 2025

Your Next Medical Procedure Might Be Denied by AI

On Friday the New York Times reported on an issue that we've been warning about since the beginning of this campaign: AI is going to be in control of your healthcare. Their reporting states that Medicare will now require prior authorization for certain procedures and that the government will hire private companies to use artificial intelligence to determine whether patients should be covered for certain procedures. This means that AI, for which we will have no transparency and where there will be no considerations for bias, will be making determinations on whether potentially life-saving treatment will be provided to seniors. These companies will also be incentivized to deny claims since the federal government will allow them to share in any savings achieved when coverage is rejected. These AI-driven coverage decisions have been a part of the insurance industry for a long time, but now the government is bringing them to Medicare and giving these companies reasons to develop models more likely to deny coverage.

This news sheds light on the exact reason I'm running for office. Our current political leadership isn't prepared to deal with these challenges. We need scientists and technologists in Congress! If elected, I will push for legislation to guarantee transparency into all AI systems used for government services, including Medicare, and to study whether these systems result in better or worse outcomes for the public. I would also require that these companies have strategies to detect and remove bias from these systems that harm women, seniors, and racial and ethnic minorities. Additionally, I would work to make sure the government does not support twisted incentive structures that make it more profitable for companies to deny access to life-saving medical procedures.

As AI becomes more and more impactful in all areas of our lives, my 15 years of research and teaching the subject prepare me to effectively legislate in ways that career politicians cannot. Now is the time for change. I hope you will support my campaign!

--Karl