While Americans continue to worry about the rising cost of living, President Donald Trump’s takeover of American cities and the ongoing tariff debacle, something mischievous has silently flown under the radar. For people on Medicare, the president has proposed a controversial pilot program that will take the power away from doctors and place it into the imaginary hands of artificial intelligence. Yes…you read that correctly.
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Despite the move potentially impacting millions of Americans, it seems like practically no one is speaking out against it. That’s why former politician Stacey Abrams is calling Trump out big time.
Since stepping away from the political scene, Abrams has been focused on using her work as a best-selling author to comment on key issues affecting the people. Her recent novel, “Coded Justice,” is a commentary on the dangers of technology — specifically AI — if used as a weapon. According to her, however, the fiction book has now become the reality in America.
She took to TikTok to speak on Trump’s “AI death panels,” which will change the way patients receive treatment. Abrams said the president and his allies are using AI to “decide whether medicare patients get certain treatment.” According to his pilot program, private firms will be hired to deploy AI to make “prior authorization” decisions, the New York Times reported in August.
This means AI will decide whether Medicare should pay for certain procedures as opposed to others, and Abrams said this is a dangerous control tactic.
“That means an algorithm — not your doctor — can say yes or no to care, to lower quality of life and the potential of inadequate treatment,” Abrams said on TikTok. About 68.9 million Americans are currently on Medicare, according to data from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services. Of those, Black Americans make up about 11 percent — or 7.2 million — of recipients.
According to the New York Times, the program relies on algorithms similar to ones “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.”
Critics of Trump’s plan said the pilot program will only encourage private firms to deny treatment because in return, they’ll get a payout. “The more care they block, the more they profit,” Abrams continued.
Abrams added that this is a plan will further Trump’s autocracy agenda. She said, “When algorithms become the tools of autocrats, they become weapons used against the people.” These “AI death panels” fit the criteria, she said.
“Truth itself is being rewritten by algorithms,” the author warned. “It’s dystopian, it’s wrong and it’s already happening,” she continued referring to states like Washington and Arizona, where the pilot program is already taking shape. She called the whole thing a “step seven in the autocrats’ playbook.” And more folks should not only be aware, but they should also be scared.
“If we stay quiet, it wont stop at Medicare,” Abrams promised. “Our health and our democracy are on the line, so speak up.”
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