By Jeff Marr
Publication Date: 2026-02-04 13:32:00
Medicare has launched a six-year pilot program that could ultimately transform access to health care for some of the millions of people in the U.S. who rely on it for health insurance coverage.
Traditional Medicare is a government-administered insurance plan for people over 65 or with disabilities. About half of the 67 million Americans covered by Medicare have this coverage. The rest have Medicare Advantage plans administered by private companies.
The pilot program, called the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction Model, is an experimental program that began in January 2026 affecting people enrolled in traditional Medicare from six states.
During this pilot, medical providers must apply for authorization or prior authorization before offering 14 types of healthcare procedures and devices. The program uses artificial intelligence software to identify and reject treatment requests that it deems unnecessary or harmful. This is similar to the way many Medicare…
