AFT criticizes Medicare's use of AI for medical procedure approvals

A new Medicare pilot program will use artificial intelligence to help decide whether certain medical procedures, including spine surgeries and steroid injections, are approved or denied. The initiative has drawn criticism from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), with leaders expressing concern about the impact on patient care.

AFT President Randi Weingarten and Tom Murphy, co-chair of the AFT Retirees Program and Policy Council, released a statement addressing the move. According to them: “The Trump administration is attempting to transform Medicare into the very worst of private insurance.

“Instead of making life easier and better for older Americans, this administration is introducing extra hurdles that are burdensome to patients and often get in the way of their desperately needed treatments. And the administration is inserting private AI companies, which have a giant financial stake in the denial of care, into the doctor-patient relationship.

“This is wrong, and it’s an insult to retired and disabled Americans who deserve the best of care from doctors and nurses—not from AI companies.”

The AFT statement reflects ongoing debate over how technology should be used in healthcare decision-making for Medicare recipients.

Randi Weingarten

President

Fedrick C. Ingram

Secretary-Treasurer

Evelyn DeJesus

Executive Vice President

American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. All rights reserved.

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