Lawmaker pushes to stop concerning AI healthcare trend: 'Probably the next step in our medical care'

A lawmaker in Nashua, New Hampshire, has pushed for two new bills regarding health insurance across the state. 

The first aims to prevent insurance companies from using artificial intelligence to evaluate and eventually dismiss the viability of insurance claims, while the other endeavors to bar insurers from disproportionately reimbursing healthcare services dispensed in person over virtual telemedicine.

According to News From The States, healthcare providers are seeing an uptick in the number of claims denied by insurance companies — a trend that correlates with the involvement of AI in gauging "whether a patient's care is medically necessary enough to warrant coverage."

Unfortunately, since AI-based assessments aren't always accurate when decisions involve a human intelligence component, the rapid advancement of AI tools and their integration into our daily lives mean healthcare providers often receive the short end of the stick. 

"You can manipulate [AI] to have certain outcomes," explained New Hampshire state representative Alicia Gregg, who filed the bill. 

"While I think that might work moneywise for an insurance company that's trying not to cover certain things, who we really leave behind is the patients."

Although AI can help insurers address some issues — such as mitigating fraud and optimizing internal systems — these technologies can pose several ethical and environmental concerns. 

After all, by making the distinction between telemedicine and in-person medicine in the amount reimbursed, insurers may effectively be penalizing populations with limited access to conventional services.

"Especially with cuts to certain medical programs, we're going to see less and less in-person providers," Gregg told News From The States. "So I'm always looking at what does access look like in our state."

Meanwhile, AI data centers consume copious amounts of water and require massive amounts of energy to operate, simultaneously depleting our natural resources and releasing planet-heating carbon pollution into our atmosphere.

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It's far from the first time insurers have attempted to limit coverage plans. In regions labeled as high-risk wildfire zones, for instance, many companies have been narrowing their policies and minimizing the coverage they offer for homeowners and their properties. 

The use of AI to inform insurers' decisions on skewed grounds only makes it more likely that claims will fall through, so it's essential that future AI research strives to curb the negative ethical impact in order for us to take better advantage of the solutions AI has to offer.

"This is probably the next step in our medical care: being able to have telehealth visits," Gregg concluded.

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