CMS Pilots AI for Seniors
CMS is piloting AI‑powered agents to help Medicare beneficiaries navigate care choices, a move that could alter how seniors discover and select new devices and services, reported. Early adoption may be limited by trust, but the program signals federal interest in AI as a consumer navigation tool.
CMS published a Request for Information on Feb. 17, 2026 [sam.gov] that asks vendors for AI/ML platforms offering personalized plan recommendations, conversational support and call‑center automation, with responses due March 31, 2026 [sam.gov]. CMS’ WISeR (Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction) Model is scheduled to run Jan. 1, 2026–Dec. 31, 2031 in six states — Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington — per CMS’ model page [cms.gov]. The WISeR pilot specifically tags 17 services for review and lists device‑adjacent procedures such as spinal cord stimulators, cervical fusion surgery and epidural steroid injections among those subject to AI‑assisted prior authorization [newsweek.com]. KFF polling in 2025 found just 32% of adults would trust a health app using an AI chatbot to access medical records or give personalized advice [kff.org], while KFF’s analysis also reports about 81% of Medicare beneficiaries used a health app or website in the prior year, signaling high uptake despite limited trust [kff.org]. CMS’ Health Tech Ecosystem has solicited private partners, and industry moves include OpenAI releasing a dedicated health tool in January 2026 and Microsoft announcing a Copilot Health assistant in March 2026, as noted in coverage of the HIMSS panel where CMS officials spoke [healthcaredive.com].
