this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
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162
Dr. Oz pushes AI avatars as a fix for rural health care. Not so fast, critics say (text.npr.org)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by Beep@lemmus.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Dr. Mehmet Oz is pitching a controversial fix for America's rural health care crisis: artificial intelligence.

"There's no question about it — whether you want it or not — the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars," Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said recently at an event focused on addiction and mental health hosted by Action for Progress, a coalition aimed at improving behavioral health care. He said AI could multiply the reach of doctors fivefold — or more — without burning them out.

The AI proposal is part of the Trump administration's $50 billion plan to modernize health care in rural communities. That includes deploying tools such as digital avatars to conduct basic medical interviews, robotic systems for remote diagnostics, and drones to deliver medication where pharmacies don't exist.

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[–] daannii@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

So .. I think there might be a dispute between health insurance companies and these AI doctors .

The insurance companies aren't going to pay for this.

They barely will pay for telemedicine as it is.

They won't pay for anything they aren't legally required to pay for.

They won't pay for any service unless a court review would say it was medically necessary, and even then, they trying to not pay if they think the person is too poor to take them to court over it.

As much as I hate the greedy bastards. They have also protected us from a lot of pseudoscience health care.