Tuesday, January 21, 2025

DJT Rescinds Biden-Era Healthcare AI Policies

HEADER - On Day 1, DJT rescinding a number of policies related to healthcare, particular AI.   Some other policies - like Ozempic under Part D - remain in Biden draft form and will be finalized during the spring.

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On Day 1, DJT rescinded a number of policies in place by virtue of executive order, sometimes supplemented by additional follow-on policy statements, documents, or goals of the prior administration.

The basic Physician and Hospital Outpatient rules for 2025 were completed November 1, and are in place for 2025, like new rules for unbundling payment for radiophamaceuticals (like AMYVID).

Some Biden-proposed rules are in play, such as the Medicare Avantage annual rulemaking.   That included Part D coverage for GLP drugs like Ozempic, which will be finalized, or not, in March 2025.

Administration and HHS rules for healthcare AI have looming future impact on many things, but immediate impact on the many big labs that are expanding in real-time their AI software services for  clinical genomics and health systems.  Eg January 21, 2025, Tempus releases "olivia" AI enabled healthcare app.

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There are three early articles on the AI rescission and related topics, all of which are open access, and the STAT newsletter is most detailed.

  • Trump rescinds AI safeguards - VERGE.
  • Trump inherits unfinished health policies, like Ozempic - AXIOS.
    • This M.A. rule also includes pages on AI in Medicare Advantage - see my blog here.
  • Trump rescinds AI order, with healthcare insights and links - STAT.
Mario Aguilar's article at STAT includes:
  • Linkback to a prior article on what Biden EO meant for health.
  • Linkback to an HHS strategic plan for AI in health.
  • Linkback to ann inventory of how HHS was using AI.
  • Coverage of "model cards" for AI used in Health.  These are almost like food nutrition labels but for software like healthcare machine learning tools.  Link to article about FDA endorsing software "model cards."
Though it's a finalized rule, not a new one, see the early 2024 HHS ONC HTI-1 final rule on certified artificial intelligence in healthcare IT - here.