Medicare AI Prior-Authorization Pilot Draws Reports of Delays and Pain

In January, the Trump administration rolled out WISeR, a pilot program that uses artificial intelligence to authorize or deny certain types of care for Medicare patients. [1] Medicare, the federal healthcare program for seniors, previously had not required doctors to obtain this kind of pre-approval, called prior authorization. [1] The change therefore introduced an authorization step for care that doctors previously could provide without that pre-approval. [1]

Subsequent media reports described technical difficulties, long delays in decisions and care, puzzling denials, frustrated doctors, and patients suffering in pain. [1] Earlier in September, the Electronic Frontier Foundation released federal documents about WISeR that it obtained amid litigation. [1] The documents included provider feedback from someone who called the program “a disgrace to the human race” and reported seeing patients crying in pain while waiting for care. [1]

WISeR changes the operational baseline: Medicare doctors are now navigating an AI-supported authorization step for some care that previously did not require this pre-approval. The most useful comparison in the available reporting is therefore WISeR versus Medicare’s earlier process, not WISeR versus a competing product. Reports of delays, denials, technical trouble, physician frustration, and patient pain make implementation performance the central issue, while the released federal documents add direct provider testimony. What the sources don't address: how often WISeR denies care, how quickly decisions are made overall, or whether outcomes differ from the previous process.