Blog
November 21, 2025
Trump Picks a Fight with Texas Retirees
In January, the Trump Administration launches a pilot program designed to “save” money for the government and “make” money for certain insurance-company-related corporations at our expense.
Our national organization is totally against the so-called “Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Project. A printable statement is available on the national web site.
Retirees in only six states will be experimented on, but Texas is one of them. The Texas Alliance for Retired Americans will be fighting for every Texan – and to make sure that this “experiment” doesn’t go any further. We call for everyone to cooperate in this critical battle.
The government makes it sound innocent. Selected good-hearted corporations will use artificial intelligence to help them screen applicants for certain Medicare procedures for prior authorization. If the artificial robots say fraud, then the claim will be denied. The government will keep most of their money, after sharing it with the good-hearted corporation. The retiree needing health care will be out of luck.
It’s just a backhanded attempt to further privatize Medicare and make more money for insurance companies.
How Can You Help Fight Back?
Even before the scheme is implemented, you can contact your congressperson, the Texas Medical Association, and the Texas Insurance Commission. You can help spread the truth to your friends and social media contacts. You can write letters to editors. (Helpful instructions on this site).
Newspaper columnists, like one in the Dallas newspaper, have already seen this problem coming.
If the Trump Administration implements the plan in January, please, help us monitor every instance of abuse. Contact our task force leaders Jan Lance (taraaustintx@gmail.com) and/or Kenneth Williams (kdubyou7@aol.com), They are also eager to answer your questions.
Jan sends more information:
You might stress the fact that the contractors hired to use AI to decide on prior authorizations will be paid based on how much money they save with denials. That will incentivize the companies to deny care to Medicare beneficiaries. Some call it a “bounty.”
People are really curious about the 17 procedures so you might want to list them. The 17 procedures on the pilot list include: skin and tissue substitutes, electrical nerve stimulators, sacral nerve stimulation for urinary incontinence, phrenic nerve stimulators, deep brain stimulation for essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease, vagus nerve stimulation, induced lesions of nerve tracts, and epidural steroid injections for pain management.
The other thing to put in the eblast is ask people to call Cornyn and Cruz.
Call the Capitol switchboard at this number 202-224-3121 and be connected with your Senator.
Sample Phone Script:
My name is ______ and my zip code is _____. I’m calling about the CMMI model program WISeR. Texas is one of 6 states where the WISeR model will launch January 1. It will expand AI generated prior authorization into Traditional Medicare. I am a Medicare beneficiary in Texas and I don’t want to be a guinea pig for this model program. It will incentivize denials by paying the AI companies for any savings generated by denials. This program puts my health and that of other seniors at great risk. Please tell Dr. Oz to end WISeR now!
Thanks and let me know if you have any questions. – Jan Lance
In Solidarity
Gene
Gene Lantz, President
