(Palo Alto Online) - California health insurers will be prohibited from relying solely on artificial intelligence to deny claims under new legislation that was authored by state Sen. Josh Becker and that will take effect next month.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1120, aims to take on one of the mechanisms that large insurance companies have been using to make the process of denying claims more efficient. The topic took on greater public scrutiny after Brian Thompson, CEO of the insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down on Dec. 4 in Midtown Manhattan. Police believe that the alleged shooter, Luigi Mangione, was motivated by his hostility toward the nation’s health insurance industry. UnitedHealthcare is among the insurance giants that have been subject to class action lawsuits and media scrutiny because of their use of AI to deny claims.
Read more here.