Hospitals Used AI To Inflate Medical Bills By Nearly $1,000,000,000, Report Finds

Hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence tools hiked healthcare spending by nearly $1 billion over a two-year period, per a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association analysis released Thursday.

BCBSA’s new study shows that a major rise in patients being documented as having complex conditions led to $942 million in additional medical care costs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies between 2023 and ‌2025.

The study “raises concerns” that the widespread adoption of AI coding tools is driving higher healthcare spending in the U.S., which “ultimately puts pressure on premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for families, employers and taxpayers,” according to BCBSA’s report. The research looked at secondary diagnoses such as anemia after major bowel surgery.

“If patients are truly sicker, we’d expect to see more treatment,” BCBSA Senior Vice President of Product and Data Science Luke Chalker said in a statement. “For example, we’re seeing significantly more anemia diagnoses at these hospitals without a corresponding increase in transfusions.”

“The disconnect between diagnoses and treatment suggests that AI is identifying more billable conditions, not sicker patients,” Chalker continued.

The Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association says that AI is already driving *up* healthcare costs, as hospitals use the technology to find instances where they can bill more for the same level of care. https://t.co/af1SzA7D8v https://t.co/mstup0IfpP

— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) September 27, 2026

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