The AI age's first election will shape care

Nov 05, 2024

By Ruth Reader, Carmen Paun, Erin Schumaker and Daniel Payne

ELECTION 2024

Elon Musk embraces former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally.

Elon Musk (right) sees danger in unregulated AI and could influence Donald Trump if Trump's elected. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Government’s role in health care AI is on the ballot.

Former President Donald Trump has a laissez-faire approach. Vice President Kamala Harris promises more guardrails.

Whoever wins will decide how — or more likely whether — artificial intelligence is regulated in health care.

Why it matters: Harris has helped shape White House AI policies, meeting with health care industry and civil rights groups to discuss the technology’s potential risks and benefits.

A year ago, President Joe Biden issued a sweeping executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to convene a task force to evaluate AI’s potential harms and develop a strategy to mitigate them.

Now, HHS is close to announcing a new leadership team to manage data, AI and technology policy writ large. The agency plans to unveil a regulatory plan by January.

A Trump presidency could change all that. Publicly, Trump has pushed deregulation as a primary objective. Even if his administration kept some HHS initiatives, it would likely slow down or scrap further rulemaking.

Some in the health care industry want AI rules to ensure the tools improve patient outcomes and are safe, which could reassure reluctant AI adopters and, as a result, speed the technology’s rollout.

However, there’s no consensus in Congress on how to proceed, effectively leaving the issue to the executive branch.

Even so: The Biden administration has favored a hands-off approach to help AI develop quickly and let American tech firms compete with China.

Wild card: AI skeptic and Trump backer Elon Musk is likely to have Trump's ear if Trump wins. The billionaire Tesla CEO has supported AI regulations including a California bill that would have required safety testing for large-scale AI models if Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom hadn't vetoed it in September.

If Trump makes it to the White House, Musk could advise him to take a more cautious approach on the technology.

WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE

An American flag waves near the U.S. Capitol.

Washington, D.C. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images

This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.

Manage Election Day anxiety with a two-minute exercise, a short meditation or by listening to birdsongs to calm down your brain , The Washington Post recommends. Good luck!

Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com , Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com.

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CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Warris Bokhari

Warris Bokhari helps patients appeal insurer claims denials. | Courtesy of Warris Bokhari

While campaign rhetoric has focused on abortion and drug pricing, tech CEO Warris Bokhari is telling voters to make no mistake: This election is about the future of the Affordable Care Act.

“ACA is on the ballot,” said Bokhari, CEO of Claimable, an AI platform that appeals claims denials.

Former President Donald Trump and his allies have promised to replace Obamacare with something better if he’s elected.

The ACA is mainly known for creating a marketplace of options for Americans who don’t have health insurance — and ensuring they get affordable coverage even if they have preexisting conditions that could make them expensive to insure.

But Bokhari said the law is much bigger than that.

The ACA requires insurers to have a process for appealing coverage decisions, he said. That includes notifying patients when they deny claims and providing patients with a copy of their file. It also entitles patients to continued coverage during the appeals process and an outside review if the insurer upholds a denial.

Insurers deny roughly 15 percent of claims initially, according to a survey from health tech company Premier.

“ACA is more than the exchange,” Bokhari said. “It’s your fundamental right to be heard.”

WORLD VIEW

A nurse administers the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Incentives to develop vaccines for everyday ailments are needed, the WHO says. | Frank Augstein/AP Photo

The world needs vaccines not only for pathogens that could emerge from the wild — or a lab — and cause a new pandemic, but also for everyday viruses and bacteria that regularly sicken people, the World Health Organization said in a study released Monday.

For the first time, the global health body listed 17 pathogens it says researchers should prioritize fighting.

They include three diseases public health authorities have fought for decades and that kill nearly 2.5 million people every year: HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.

Pathogens increasingly resistant to antibiotics, such as Group A streptococcus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacterium that can cause pneumonia and meningitis, are also on the list.

The WHO said vaccine research is also needed for the hepatitis C virus, which causes an infection that affects the liver and can lead to death if untreated.

The list also includes influenza, for which a broadly protective vaccine is needed, and cytomegalovirus, which remains in infected individuals for life.

Why it matters: The list is meant to set priorities for vaccine development driven by people’s needs instead of the potential for return on investment for drugmakers.

“This study uses broad regional expertise and data to assess vaccines that would not only significantly reduce diseases that greatly impact communities today but also reduce the medical costs that families and health systems face,” Dr. Kate O’Brien, the WHO’s director of immunization, vaccines and biologicals, said in a statement.

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