Re: “New Medicare program using AI leaves WA patients in pain” (March 18, Business):
Now the true costs of the “Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction” program are revealed: debilitating pain, delay or denial of treatment, and medical professionals’ time wasted on authorization requests.
We don’t have to accept this. There are several bills in Congress, including legislation sponsored by our Washington senators (S.3480) and representatives (H.R.5940), the Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act, that would halt the WISeR program. And in Arizona, one of the other affected states, lawsuits have been filed to stop WISeR.
WISeR moves Traditional Medicare closer to the private Medicare Advantage system, which has long relied on prior authorization to increase corporate profits. MedPac, the independent agency created by Congress, estimates that Medicare Advantage insurers will overcharge the Medicare system by $76 billion in 2026.
To cut waste, fraud and abuse, why not start with the Medicare Advantage system?
Anne Watanabe, Seattle
