VIDEO RELEASE: Sen. Menendez Questions Witnesses About the Role of AI in Health Outcomes for Underserved and Underrepresented Populations

The Senator asked about how Congress can ensure AI is used to improve health outcomes as well as how to support stakeholders looking to invest in AI to improve diversity and ensure medicines are representative of a broader population

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, questioned Dr. Ziad Obermeyer, Associate Professor and Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professor for the University of California, during a hearing entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Health Care: Promise and Pitfalls” about potential next steps policymakers can take to ensure AI can be used to improve health outcomes for underserved and underrepresented populations, rather than amplifying current health disparities.

“There is growing concern that algorithms may reproduce racial and gender disparities via the people building them or through the data used to train them. For example, health systems often rely on commercial prediction algorithms to identify and help patients with complex health needs. A study conducted by you and your team found evidence of racial bias in a widely used algorithm. Because this algorithm used ineffective proxies and falsely concluded that Black patients were healthier than equally sick White patients, Black patients were significantly less likely to be identified for extra care,” said Sen. Menendez. “As Congress considers appropriate payment and coverage policy for AI, we need to ensure that AI is not building upon biases in health research and compounding health equity issues.”

[CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE SENATOR’S FULL QUESTIONING]

Sen. Menendez also asked Dr. Obermeyer how Congress can support stakeholders looking to invest in AI to improve diversity and ensure medicines are representative of a broader population.

“Lack of diversity in clinical trials, something I’ve been working on for quite some time here, creates gaps in our understanding of disease prevention and treatment across populations. Legislation like my bipartisan DIVERSE Trials Act seeks to improve access to and diversity in clinical drug and treatment trials,” said Sen. Menendez. “But more needs to be done. Recently, some stakeholders have been using AI to increase diversity in clinical trials by pinpointing community centers where patients with certain cancers might seek treatment. That information helped lift the Black enrollment rate in five ongoing studies from roughly 4.8% to about 10%.”

Sen. Menendez concluded his questioning by asking Peter Shen, Head of Digital & Automation for North America for Siemens Healthineers, about whether more consistent Medicare payments make these services more accessible for patients. The Senator also asked about whether there are other holes in the way Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently reimbursing for algorithm-based healthcare services.

“According to a recent study, there are fewer than 20 AI medical services for which CMS will reimbursees today. The payment for these services, which include AI systems for cardiology, ophthalmology, and radiology, is inconsistent and varies widely,” said Sen. Menendez. “In 2023, most AI medical services had fewer than 1,000 claims billed nationally. In short, the AI medical services that we have online today are just beginning to be widely accessed by patients.”

In September, Sen. Menendez questioned witnesses during a U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing and asked about how AI may potentially contribute to the rise of fraud and scams in the future. The Senator also questioned witnesses about what financial institutions should and could do to minimize the risk of AI powered scams targeting them and their customers.

Over the course of the last year, Sen. Menendez has participated in several member-level meetings and hearings to explore how Congress can best address the threats and challenges posed by the rise of AI across a number of sectors and industries, including the financial system. As part of his Economic Statecraft for the Twenty-First Century Act, Sen. Menendez has included provisions to revitalize how the rules-based order and institutions deal with the challenges posed by technology and artificial intelligence. In 2019, Sen. Menendez led a letter to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to strengthen the Trump Administration’s diplomatic efforts around emerging technologies to make certain the United States leads in setting international standards and norms for the AI field in ways that are congruent with our nation’s interests and values.