HEALTHCARE: AI App That Quickly Appeals Denials

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/big-insurance-uses-ai-to-quickly-deny-claims-physican-fights-back-with-ai-app-that-quickly-appeals/?utm_source=newsletter.goodnewsnetwork.org&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=your-5-min-dose-of-good-news-ducks-take-over-town-center&_bhlid=9ae55e2f638cb4ac2fda40c6fc7c6f7bac698b74

Big Insurance Uses AI to Quickly Deny Claims, One Man Fights Back with AI App That Quickly Appeals
By Andy Corbley – Aug 5, 2025 

*** begin quote ***

The idea that American health insurance companies are using AI to analyze and adjudicate claims for approval or denial sounds terrifying, but one North Carolinian is using AI to fight back.

When Raleigh resident Neal Shah had a claim denied for his wife’s chemotherapy drugs, he thought it was rare, that he was the only one, that it was just bad luck.

Litigating his case on phone calls that lasted for hours changed the husband and father, and he set about creating a sophisticated app that uses artificial intelligence to compare claims denial forms against health insurance contracts, before automatically drafting an appeal letter.

*** and ***

they’ve built Counterforce to the point where it boasts a 70% success rate in appealing claims.

*** end quote ***

https://www.counterforcehealth.org/

# – # – # – # – # 

I like the “fight fire with fire” approach.

Completely free?  Astonishing. Wish I had a claim to arbitrate!

(Surprised that Big Insurance hasn’t bought them out or engaged in “lawfare” against them.)

To me, “health” and “healthcare” is not just about “the care you get or don’t get for your health”, but also all the “systems” adjacent to it.

Wonder if this will inspire other efforts to enlist AI against other “insurance” abuses (i.e., raising premiums; denial of coverage; use alf drones and AI against ordinary folks; credit card appeals)?

One could apply the concept to all sorts of adversarial interactions like “eminent domain”, intrusive Gooferment actions like regulations, or “cash confiscations”.

What a great time to be a programmer with today’s opportunities.

How about AI to lobby politicians and bureaucrats to “do the right thing”?

Any other uses?  Leave a comment.

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INTERESTING: How to memorize unfathomably long lists of information

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/p/memory-champion-explains-how-she?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febe8de59-170a-4391-9882-82e66a8b2f37_1200x675.webp&open=false

Memory champion explains how she memorizes 1,080 numbers in 30 minutes

  • Katie Kermode — a memory athlete with four world records — tells Big Think about her unique spin on an ancient technique to memorize unfathomably long lists of information.

Big Think and Stephen Johnson
Aug 05, 2025

*** begin quote ***

What image does the number 693 produce in your mind? For Katie Kermode, who holds four world records in memory championships, the answer is a theatrical showman. She has a mental image handy for all numbers between 1 and 999. The number 522, for instance, makes her visualize red lentils “spilling everywhere.” And 711 conjures a cat.

These images aren’t arbitrarily selected. If you’ve ever wondered how it’s humanly possible for someone to recite 70,030 digits of pi from memory, as Suresh Kumar Sharma did in 2015, the answer is that they’re almost certainly using a mnemonic technique — a strategy that helps you remember and retrieve long lists of information by simplifying it into more relatable or easily visualized concepts.

*** end quote ***

Quite amazing to me.  I can usually remember a phone number.  BUT, (and there is always a BIG butt), a credit card number … …  nah.  I may try this system.

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DISCOURAGING: Comcast Customer Email Accounts to Yahoo Mail

Monday, August 11, 2025

https://cordcuttersnews.com/comcast-is-shutting-down-its-email-service-moving-customer-email-accounts-to-yahoo-mail/

Comcast is Shutting Down Its Email Service & Moving Customer Email Accounts to Yahoo Mail
By Luke Bouma on August 2, 2025

*** begin quote ***

In a significant change, Comcast has announced plans to transition all Comcast.net email accounts from its current Xfinity Email platform to the Yahoo Mail platform. The announcement, detailed in an email sent to customers on August 2, 2025, outlines a phased migration set to occur over the next several months, promising improved functionality and advanced features for its users.

According to the email from Comcast, the shift to Yahoo Mail will provide customers with a “premium email solution” designed to streamline communication and organization. Yahoo Mail’s AI-driven inbox management, robust security features, integrated calendar, and highly rated mobile app were highlighted as key benefits of the transition. Importantly, Comcast assured customers that their existing Comcast.net email addresses, along with all messages, folders, and contacts, will remain intact during the move.

*** end quote ***

FYI Yahoo is primarily owned by Apollo Global Management, which holds a 90% stake, while Verizon retains a 10% ownership. The company operates as a standalone entity under the name Yahoo! Inc. Apollo Global Management is a private equity firm that bought AOL and Yahoo from Verizon. 

Way back when I was first reinkefj@att.net and later when I became reinkefj@comcast.net (Are you detecting a pattern here?). I advise family, frends, and basically anyone who would listen that this “free” email was a lock-in so you could never change ISPs. A quick scan of the Reinke Faces Life blog will show you my griping back in 2010.

May I suggest that you have your own domain? The common wisdom, or is that common whizdumb, is to own your own name as a domain name. I own “reinke.cc”. (I like saying “sea sea me at reinke.cc”! me@reinke.cc will actually work!) 

It gives one quite a bit of control. And, it’s very cheap. I know three solutions: wordpressdotcom with gmail, email only with 1and1, and domain+email+webspace also at 1and1. 

My point is not that you should use 1and1. http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=9113251 I could care less which one you use. It’s that getting on to your own domain with email is cheap and easy. 

And, it’s not aol, hotmail, yahoo, or gmail. It IS your own “personal brand”. And, the “bad guys” can’t fool you!

P.S.: 1and1 is now IONOS.

Let’s look over the Google Graveyard for all the vendors who have passed away with our data.

  • Google Graveyard: Google groups, Google Short Links;
  • Yahoo took down: Yahoo! Briefcase on March 30, 2009 and Yahoo! Groups before that;
  • AT&T ASHcan contains: AT&T Locker, AT&T Photos, and AT&T.net email;
  • Amazon “Sunseted”: Dash and other buttons, and the Amazon product wand;
  • Mozilla did the old Pocket-punt;
  • Microsoft wants you to forget HealthVault and Docs.com file-sharing;
  • CARDSCAN was acquired by Rubber Maid and went down shortly after that;
  • And FINALLY Plaxo, the cardscan replacement, that also disappeared. 

Never mind all the hardware devices that were given the heave ho after being bought by suckers like me.

Soooooo, under the heading of “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!”, I’d urge you to take firm control of your choices.  If your data goes in, then ask how does it come out?”  If the answer is not obvious, then tread carefully the data you save may be your own.

Argh!

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MEME: RKBA is not about defending against deer

Sunday, August 10, 2025

 

Robert W Malone MD from “Who is Robert Malone”

Sunday Strip: If You are Going to Think…

Think big.

Robert W Malone MD, MS

Aug 10

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ENGINEERING: China has a two-ton electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft; what does the USA have?

Sunday, August 10, 2025

https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/china-evtol-offshore-rig-delivery

World’s first two-ton electric cargo aircraft cuts 10-hour trip to under 1 hour

  • This Chinese heavy-lift drone is a game changer for offshore missions.

Updated: Aug 04, 2025 08:42 AM EST

*** begin quote ***

China has completed what it calls the world’s first offshore oil-platform cargo mission by a two-ton electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.

The unmanned V2000CG CarryAll took off from the coastal city of Shenzhen on Sunday, carried fresh fruit and emergency medical supplies across open water for 58 minutes, and touched down 150 kilometers (about 93 miles) away on a China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) platform.

*** and ***

From ten-hour boat runs to one-hour drone hops

*** and ***

Taken together, the advances point to a logistics sector on the verge of rapid change. Long-haul trucking and maritime shuttles remain indispensable for bulk freight, but heavy-lift eVTOLs offer a new middle ground. They are faster than ships, cheaper and cleaner than helicopters, and can reach small landing pads or parking-lot “vertiports” that fixed-wing aircraft cannot.

The Shenzhen-to-rig mission is expected to become regular sorties carrying maintenance parts, food, and medical kits. At the same time, the sale of the first fully certified V2000CG CarryAll signals the beginning of commercial deployment for large-scale eVTOL operations in real-world logistics environments.

*** end quote ***

I’ve often thought that the Gooferment, private industry, or some tech mogul could spark innovation here in the USA by offering something like “Nobel Prizes” for a SPIRO (Specific, Performance or results, Involvement or support, Realistic, Observable) achievement.

I’m not sure that the dollar amount would be as motivating as the prestige of winning it.

Someone should give DJT4547 a list of what would be EPIC HEROIC accomplishments.  Like the various awards that are given out, for BEST of something.

“Some men see things as they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.”” — RFK

“Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country” — John F. Kennedy inaugural address

Use the “bully pulpit” to inspire action.

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NEWJERSEY: Don’t make NJ a “two tier” society where politicians have “rights” the ordinary citizen does NOT have

Saturday, August 9, 2025

https://www.gunowners.org/nj08012025/

NJ: Gun rights for me, but not for thee!
Written by Grant Clarkson Published: 02 August 2025

*** begin quote ***

Under this bill (A 5958) elected officials and their chiefs of staff would be allowed to carry handguns without a permit, possess rifles and shotguns without a Firearms Purchaser ID, and transport these firearms without fear of persecution, all of which are illegal for me as a law-abiding New Jersey resident!

*** end quote ***

As a gun-owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I don’t want you to create a “two tier” society where politicians have “rights” that “We, The Sheeple” don’t have.  This is yet another step towards creating the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee.  

Argh!

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DISCOURAGING: “Civil society” isn’t getting any more “civilized”!

Friday, August 8, 2025

https://www.lifenews.com/2025/07/21/canada-plans-to-euthanize-15-million-people-in-the-next-20-years/

Canada Plans to Euthanize 15 Million People in the Next 20 Years
International | Bobby Schindler | Jul 21, 2025 | 9:44AM | Ottawa, Canada 

*** begin quote ***

In a recent video, Kelsi Sheren, a Canadian combat veteran, host of The Kelsi Sheren Perspective, and an outspoken opponent of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) policies, shared how Canada’s government-controlled healthcare system plans to euthanize an estimated 15 million Canadians between 2027 and 2047, a staggering figure justified under the pretext of cost savings.

*** and ***

What often goes unnoticed, however, is that existing U.S. healthcare policies are already enabling the quiet killing of vulnerable Americans – not through legalized suicide, but through hospital protocols and policies that deny care, withdraw treatment, or subtly hasten death.

*** end quote ***

As gun-owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I am not surprised that a “culture of death” has overwhelmed the morality of “We, The Sheeple”.  Abortion has desensitized us to mass murder.  The worst serial killer, school shooter, or crazy killer nurse can not come near the body count of today’s politicians and bureaucrats. Recently, Secretary RFK jr has comet against organ donations from living donors that will kill the “donor”.  To me, that’s just murder.

Unless “We, The Sheeple” react strongly and punish the “enablers” of these horrific killings, it’s only going to get worse.  Already, people are revoking the organ donor choice on their driver’s license (another insult to liberty).  And is anyone surprised?

The Catholic Church has completely lost its “moral authority” by pedophilia, financial mismanagement, liberal “theology”, “climate change”, illegal immigration, and a vast number of “political issues”.  

Shame is, “We, The Sheeple” could use a beacon of “moral authority” today!

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SURVIVAL: A Provoked Attack

Thursday, August 7, 2025

A Provoked Attack:

[The reasons don’t seem unclear to me.]

Today, friend-of-the-site Chris D. passed along with the latest in fucking around and finding out. Hunter Asher Watkins was fatally gored by a South African buffalo he had been hunting.

Local residents call the buffalo species found in the area, Cape buffalo, the “Black Death” because to their reputation for causing approximately 200 deaths annually and for claiming more game hunters’ lives than lions, rhinos or crocodiles.

Perhaps folks should consider just leaving the buffalo alone.

Link: https://www.irishstar.com/news/millionaire-big-game-hunter-gored-35684171

# – # – # – # – # 

What a great idea.  Only kill what you can eat or “create” (impossible).

And while we are at it, let’s remind the Yellowstone tourists, and others, to leave the “fluffy cows” alone too.  They are bigger, faster, and more irratible than the worst “Karen” you know.

Stop nominating yourself for a  “Darwin award”.  You’re ineligible unless your over 18 and still reproducing.

Argh!

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SURVIVAL: Thinking about a fall in the shower at home; not every survival tip is about surviving in the wilderness

Thursday, August 7, 2025

Just got out of the shower and while I was in there, I thought what if I fell.

Normally, I always have my iwatch on but not in the shower. Often, I’m not alone at home but today I am alone and no one is expected back until 6 or 7pm.

So, if you don’t mind, when I’m showering and alone in the house, I’ll text a “safety buddy” that I’m going in and coming out.

Seems like a rare occurrence, but but then I think of my summertime neighbor whose first husband died alone going into their basement when he slipped and fell.

Or, OTOH, I just won’t shower if alone in the house.

Or, to be really safe, just never shower again.

Laugh! Silly things I think about. 

YMMV

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PEACE: Was it “necessary”?

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

80th Anniversary of Hiroshima

Today marks 80 years since the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The attack—the first military use of a nuclear bomb—precipitated the end of the US war with Japan and killed an estimated 140,000 people over several months (see photos).

On Aug. 6, 1945, US Col. Paul Tibbets flew a B-29 bomber from the island of Tinian to Hiroshima carrying a 9,700-pound uranium bomb nicknamed “Little Boy.” At about 8:15 am, the bomb detonated roughly 1,900 feet over the city center, sending surface temperatures above 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Then-President Harry Truman had agreed to bomb Hiroshima, which had a civilian population of 300,000 and about 43,000 soldiers, to convince Japan to surrender. See Tibbets’ reflections here (w/video). See survivors’ reflections here.

The US followed the Hiroshima bombing with an atomic bomb targeting Nagasaki three days later. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945. Learn more about the Manhattan Project via 1440 Topics here.

# – # – # – # – # 

I remember the Christian Brothers discussing in class about the “Just War” doctrine and the use of Atomic Bombs.  Of course, I brought the topic home.  Strangely, my war time uncles, both vets and essential civilian workers, were quiet or muted about how necessary it was, but my aunts were totally fine with it.  Freshly, “educated” by the “Just War” doctrine, I asked “what about the children?”.  That ended the topic discussion.  I think forever.  Or, at least forever, in my presence.

I ask the same question now for Gaza.  As I did for Kuwait, Afghanistan, the Holocaust, Cambodia, … … essentially any time I hear about “fighting”.  Makes me sad to think of the children in all the war zones.  As well as living in poverty around the USA and the world.

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.”  ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

I wonder how many Einsteins, Pasteurs, Bannings, Mozarts, and DaVincis have died never getting to make their contributions to humanity.

Sigh!

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