Gillibrand, Colleagues Take Action To Roll Back Trump Administration Policy That Allows AI To Deny Medical Care To Seniors

Gillibrand, Colleagues Take Action To Roll Back Trump Administration Policy That Allows AI To Deny Medical Care To Seniors

May 22, 2026

Thanks To The Trump Administration's WISeR Model, Wait Times For Treatment Are 2 To 4 Times Longer In Some States for Patients with Traditional Medicare

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, led 20 Senate Democrats in introducing a resolution to end a Trump administration experiment that allows artificial intelligence (AI) to conduct prior authorization and profit from denying seniors' medical claims in Traditional Medicare.

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) co-led the measure.

"Using AI to delay and deny seniors' medical care is immoral and unacceptable," said Senator Gillibrand. "The Trump administration must end the ill-conceived WISeR experiment to allow seniors to once again get timely access to the care that they need. Introducing this resolution is the first step toward forcing a vote to end this cruel scheme. I will keep fighting until this model is abolished once and for all."

Last year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), led by Administrator Mehmet Oz, launched an experiment to use "enhanced technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)" to approve or deny select medical services for Medicare beneficiaries in six states. This experiment is called the WISeR (Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction) Model.

However, a recent report showed that the WISeR Model has been catastrophic for seniors in the six states where it has been deployed so far. Since the model was deployed in Washington, patients have waited 2 to 4 times longer to complete procedures due to authorization delays. Additionally, WISeR allows third-party companies to use AI to overrule doctors' recommendations and incentivizes the denial of claims. The WISeR Model pays third-party administrators a financial bonus for each claim they deny under the assumption that these denials account for the prevention of wasteful spending. This model incentivizes WISeR contractors to weaponize AI-driven medical determinations to maximize profitability at the expense of seniors.

In September, Gillibrand, Wyden, and Blumenthal led an effort to call on the Trump administration to halt this experiment. In December, Gillibrand, Murray, and Wyden introduced legislation that would prohibit CMS from implementing WISeR.

Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a determination that the WISeR Model is subject to the Congressional Review Act, following a request from Senate Democrats. This determination starts a 60-day period during which Democrats can force a vote on the resolution of disapproval to repeal the WISeR Model.

A House companion resolution was introduced by Representatives Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA). Additional Senate cosponsors of the resolution include Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ed Markey (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

The text of the resolution is here.

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