AI running your health care?
Last year, I blew the whistle on the Trump administration's plan to replace health care workers with robots and AI algorithms.
At his confirmation hearing last spring, I pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz, now administrator for Medicare and Medicaid services, on whether he believed in the basic concept that actual nurses should be in nursing homes. He couldn't answer with a simple "yes."
You read that right: the person nominated to head up the major federal health programs that cover a majority of nursing home beds doesn't think nursing homes need nurses.
Just a few months later, Republicans passed their Big Ugly Bill, gutting Medicaid by over $1 TRILLION, and dealing the biggest blow to health care in our generation. This law is already destroying health care in rural communities. Nurses are being laid off, and providers are being forced to close their doors. The Big Ugly Bill is a wrecking ball for health care in rural America.
Dr. Oz's plan to fix this? You guessed it: robots and AI.
The person in charge of health care for seniors doesn't think your mom needs a real nurse to help her get to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Or a real nurse to bring your grandpa his meals and chat with him in the evenings. According to Dr. Oz, AI bots can fulfill the purposes of health workers.
Whether it's health care or Social Security, Donald Trump and his cabal of billionaires are hellbent on replacing real people with robots and privatizing the safety nets that support seniors and families, all to benefit billionaires and corporations.
This is nothing but a scam to further privatize American health care and give over the keys to Silicon Valley oligarchs. Dr. Oz is just another grifter of this administration.
Here's the truth: your health deserves humanity, not an algorithm that can be manipulated.
I'm going to fight tooth and nail against the Trump administration's efforts to substitute real health care with poorly-regulated AI and robots. Because our country's seniors deserve real care from real doctors, not a Silicon Valley robot.
More soon,
Ron
