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6/10/2025
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Senate OKs bill to monitor AI use by health insurers
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Bill ensures transparency, protects patients as insurers adopt artificial intelligence for claims and prior authorizations
STATE HOUSE – The Rhode Island Senate today passed transparency legislation to monitor how health insurers use artificial intelligence (AI) in determine health insurance coverage.
Introduced by Sen. Linda L. Ujifusa and advanced by the Senate Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies chaired by Senator Victoria Gu, the bill (2025-S 0013A) responds to growing national concern about the harms caused by AI-driven claim and prior authorization delays and denials.
“The American Medical Association reports that insurance corporations are increasingly using AI to ramp up prior authorization denials—even for medically necessary care,” said Senator Ujifusa (D-Dist. 11, Portsmouth, Bristol). “UnitedHealthcare used an AI program that cut off rehab care for elderly patients after just 20 days, even when doctors said more care was needed. Internal data showed 90% of denials were reversed on appeal — and in many cases, these denials were made in seconds without any human review. We can’t allow that kind of unchecked harm in Rhode Island.”
Said Chairwoman Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown), “This bill makes sure we get the data to understand whether AI is delaying or denying medically necessary care.”
The legislation would require the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner and the Department of Business Regulation to collect information from health insurers about the types of AI tools used, how they are used to make decisions about claims and coverage, the average time human reviewers spend on each claim and key indicators about the accuracy of these tools. The agencies will compile this data into an annual public report.
“This bill is necessary to ensure that AI use by insurance corporations does not harm health outcomes for Rhode Islanders,” said Senator Ujifusa.
The bill now goes to the House, where House Health and Human Services Committee chairwoman Susan R. Donovan (D-Dist. 69, Bristol, Portsmouth) is sponsoring companion legislation (2025-H 5172).
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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