Five principles have been identified by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to guide the design, use, and deployment of automated systems to protect the public in the age of artificial intelligence.
A framework for anyone seeking to incorporate protections into policy and practice is the aim of the «Blueprint for an Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights: Making Automated Systems Work for the American People». There are five principles intended to safeguard Americans from the adverse impacts of automated systems: safe and effective systems, algorithmic discrimination protection, data privacy, notice and explanation, and human alternatives, considerations, and fallback plans.
The blueprint addresses health and health insurance technologies, which are of interest to clinical laboratories.
There is a technical companion on how the blueprint can be applied at www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/.
The HHS gives funds to prepare for special needs.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response recently awarded $21 million to 13 healthcare facilities to serve as leading providers of care within their regions to sustain and improve healthcare system preparedness for emerging special pathogens
Three new healthcare facilities were selected to serve as Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs), and were given $3 million each.
Hospitals with enhanced capability and capacity to care for highly infectious diseases are referred to as RESPTCs. They are a hub for the National Special Pathogen System and are always ready to care for patients who are medically evacuated from overseas or diagnosed within the United States.
CBO identifies ways to reduce the prices that commercial insurers pay for medical services.
New policy approaches could be adopted by federal lawmakers to reduce the prices that commercial insurers pay for medical services, thereby lowering health insurance premiums and the cost of federal subsidies, according to the CBO.
According to the CBO, the prices that commercial health insurers in the United States pay for services provided by hospitals and physicians are much higher, on average, and have been rising more rapidly than the prices paid by public health insurance programs. The rising prices are an important driver of recent increases in premiums for commercial health plans.
Government policies can reduce commercial insurers’ prices by targeting factors that contribute to high prices, according to the CBO.
The report, «Policy Approaches to Reduce What Commercial Insurers Pay for Hospitals’ and Physicians’ Services», is available at www.cbo.gov/system/files/2022-09/58222-medical-prices.