Blue Cross says hospitals' AI coding tools added nearly $1B in costs over 2024-25
Reuters via 93.3 The Drive (corroborated by New York Times via Techmeme and AOL)·medium signal
A Blue Cross Blue Shield Association report, covered by the New York Times, finds that billing codes were more severe in 2024 and 2025 than in 2023 with no evidence that treatment changed. It attributes the shift to AI that scans records and to ambient scribes surfacing secondary conditions. Hospitals counter that insurers use AI to scan charts for denials, so the fight is now AI against AI, with patients' bills in between.