Opinion So Republicans not democrats are bringing the death panels to reality and have AI decide.

[PEB]

Just f'ing call it what it is "the death panel app" you know it's going to raise the cost of your treatments if you even F'ing get a treatment at all.

Were all about Democrats trying to push for death panels but here we go with Republicans.

Medicare Will Require Prior Approval for Certain Procedures

A pilot program in six states will use a tactic employed by private insurers that has been heavily criticized for delaying and denying medical care.

www.nytimes.com

"Like millions of older adults, Frances L. Ayres faced a choice when picking health insurance: Pay more for traditional Medicare, or opt for a plan offered by a private insurer and risk drawn-out fights over coverage.

Private insurers often require a cumbersome review process that frequently results in the denial or delay of essential treatments that are readily covered by traditional Medicare. This practice, known as prior authorization, has drawn public scrutiny, which intensified after the murder of a UnitedHealthcare executive last December.

Ms. Ayres, a 74-year-old retired accounting professor, said she wanted to avoid the hassle that has been associated with such practices under Medicare Advantage, which are private plans financed by the U.S. government. Now, she is concerned she will face those denials anyway.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to begin a pilot program that would involve a similar review process for traditional Medicare, the federal insurance program for people 65 and older as well as for many younger people with disabilities. The pilot would start in six states next year, including Oklahoma, where Ms. Ayres lives."

I wish there was a death panel prefix to select? Mods get on it.

 

[PEB]

"
The federal government plans to hire private companies to use artificial intelligence to determine whether patients would be covered for some procedures, like certain spine surgeries or steroid injections. Similar algorithms used by insurers have been the subject of several high-profile lawsuits, which have asserted that the technology allowed the companies to swiftly deny large batches of claims and cut patients off from care in rehabilitation facilities.

The A.I. companies selected to oversee the program would have a strong financial incentive to deny claims. Medicare plans to pay them a share of the savings generated from rejections.

The government said the A.I. screening tool would focus narrowly on about a dozen procedures, which it has determined to be costly and of little to no benefit to patients. Those procedures include devices for incontinence control, cervical fusion, certain steroid injections for pain management, select nerve stimulators and the diagnosis and treatment of impotence.

Abe Sutton, the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, said that the government would not review emergency services or hospital stays.

Mr. Sutton said the government experiment would examine practices that were particularly expensive or potentially harmful to patients. “This is what prior authorization should be,” he said."

 

[PEB]

The government may add or subtract to the list of treatments it has slated for review depending on what treatments it finds are being overused, he said.

But while experts agree that wasteful spending exists, they worry that the pilot program may pave the way for traditional Medicare to adopt some of the most unpopular practices of private insurers.

The program, called the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction Model, is already drawing opposition from Democratic lawmakers, former Medicare officials, physician groups and others.

Patients are also leery. “I think it’s the back door into privatizing traditional Medicare,” Ms. Ayres said.

People enrolled in traditional Medicare who live in Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington State will be included in the experiment, which is expected to start in January and last for six years.

 

[tastaylvr]

I can only imagine how many threads there would be if a democrat did even 1/10th of what is currently being done.

Where have all the conspiracy theorists run to?

Or it doesn’t matter anymore since it’s not a conspiracy anymore but reality ?

 

[PEB]

I can only imagine how many threads there would be if a democrat did even 1/10th of what is currently being done.

Where have all the conspiracy theorists run to?

Or it doesn’t matter anymore since it’s not a conspiracy anymore but reality ?

You're not kidding the MAGA tears would fill the grand canyon.