Insurers say AI is already driving up healthcare costs — by hundreds of millions

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) claims that hospitals' use of artificial intelligence tools when submitting insurance claims cost the healthcare system an extra $942 million over a two-year period, TechCrunch reports, citing the association's analysis.

Coding without care

The report flags «a sharp increase in patients being documented as having complex conditions.» Yet, according to the BCBSA, there is a «clear disconnect» between medical coding and actual treatment: there is no evidence that the care delivered changed in any corresponding way. Put plainly, the diagnoses on paper are growing more severe while the therapy stays the same.

The New York Times treats the figures as the latest sign that AI is contributing to rising healthcare costs. Fights between hospitals and insurers over treatments and payments are nothing new, but, the paper notes, the use of algorithms on both sides appears to be making the standoff worse.

Bots against bots

Dr. Shiv Rao, founder of the AI startup Abridge, acknowledged that events could lead to «a horrible dystopic future nobody wants to live in,» with «bots fighting bots, agents fighting agents.» Still, he argued, the same AI might also ease tensions and cut costs.

BCBSA senior vice president Luke Chalker declined to call the situation a war, opting for an equally vivid phrase: «It's not a war. It's a completely one-sided blood bath» — with insurers, he said, on the losing end.

Source: TechCrunch