New California law prohibits using AI as basis to deny health insurance claims

Last year, about a quarter of all health insurance claims were denied in California — a reality mirrored nationwide that has stoked public anger toward health care companies, and led to accusations that such decisions lack human empathy.

But this month, a new state law is taking on the latest twist in the debate, ensuring that a human’s perspective cannot literally be removed from such decisions by prohibiting coverage denials be made on the sole basis of artificial intelligence algorithms.