Andrea Park – December
3, 2019
Sens.
Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., published a series of letters Dec.
3 asking CMS, the Federal Trade Commission and the nation's five leading health
insurers to outline the actions they are taking to reduce algorithmic bias in
healthcare.
The
letters are addressed to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, FTC Chairman Joseph
Simons and executives at UnitedHealth Group, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna,
Humana and Aetna. In them, Mr. Booker and Mr. Wyden reference the recent findings that a popular algorithm
sold by UnitedHealth Group's Optum exhibited significant racial bias by
inaccurately calculating the number of black patients in need of extra care.
"In
using algorithms, organizations often attempt to remove human flaws and biases
from the process," the senators wrote. "Unfortunately, both the
people who design these complex systems and the massive sets of data that are
used have many historical and human biases built in. Without very careful
consideration, the algorithms they subsequently create can further perpetuate
those very biases."
Mr.
Booker and Mr. Wyden requested information from the FTC and CMS about the scope
of and possible solutions to the challenge of algorithmic bias in healthcare,
and proposed an FTC investigation of the impact of this bias on marginalized
communities. They also called on the payer executives to share details about
the algorithms their organizations use to improve care and any safeguards in
place to prevent bias.
View
all three letters here.
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