{
  "id": 19533034,
  "title": "🤕 Medicare's AI Experiment | EFFector 38.20",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/11/medicares-ai-experiment-effector-38-20",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-11-11T18:32:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "EFF Deeplinks",
    "slug": "eff-deeplinks",
    "url": "https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/11/medicares-ai-experiment-effector-3820"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In January, the U.S. government started a program called WISeR, which uses artificial intelligence to review requests for certain medical procedures from Medicare beneficiaries. This sparked concerns about the use of AI in healthcare decision-making. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit to obtain records about WISeR, demanding transparency about this untested AI system. In a recent EFFector newsletter, the organization discussed the challenges and issues arising from outsourcing treatment approval to private AI companies without adequate testing, transparency, or legal restrictions. WISeR records revealed improper denials, operational problems, and significant delays that have left patients experiencing pain due to lengthy waiting periods. The full episode, discussing these concerns, is now available on major podcast platforms.",
  "summary": "When we need medical care, we expect decisions about our treatment to be made by our doctors, not a tech company's algorithm. But in January, the federal government launched a program that uses AI to to evaluate Medicare beneficiaries' requests for certain procedures. EFF sued for records on WISeR, seeking badly needed transparency about Medicare's AI experiment. In our latest EFFector newsletter…",
  "key_points": [
    "WISeR AI program launched in January to review Medicare requests",
    "EFF lawsuit seeks transparency on untested AI system",
    "Records show improper denials, delays causing patient pain"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}