Oz’s Call for AI to Speed Coverage Decisions Draws Objections

Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, used his Senate confirmation hearing Friday to tout the benefits of artificial intelligence to help streamline the prior approval process for Medicare managed care plans.

But consumer policy watchers were immediately leery, noting the string of recent legal challenges stemming from AI-influenced coverage denials by Medicare Advantage plans.

“We are very concerned that increasing the use of AI will only make the prior authorization situation worse,” Alice Bers, litigation director at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, said in a statement.

Noting a “dramatic growth ...