How the White House’s AI Action Plan Will Impact Health Care

On July 23, the White House released America’s AI Action Plan [PDF]—a national strategy aimed at accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption across key sectors, including health care, where many audiologists and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work.

The plan contains 90 policy recommendations and follows the January 23 executive order Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. It takes a deregulatory approach to reduce “bureaucratic red tape” and eliminate “onerous” regulations. The plan emphasizes that federal AI funding should not go to states with overly burdensome regulations that could hinder innovation. However, it also affirms that states should retain the right to pass reasonable laws that do not unduly restrict innovation.

Acceleration of AI Adoption

Health care is described as “especially slow to adopt” AI because of complex regulations, mistrust of automation, and unclear governance. To accelerate AI adoption, the plan calls for:

• Promoting a “try-first” culture: The plan encourages a shift toward innovation and experimentation in health care delivery.
• Creating testing environments: There will be pilot programs where researchers, startups, and health systems can work with regulatory agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to trial AI tools.
• Funding simulations: The federal government will support real-world clinical simulations of AI systems for diagnostics and operational efficiency.
• Developing benchmarks and performance metrics: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will convene public, private, and academic stakeholders to set standards for AI’s impact in diagnostics, operations, and administration while measuring productivity improvements in areas such as medical imaging, clinical workflow, and population health analytics.

Workforce Development

The plan emphasizes the need for a workforce that can support AI advancements. Strategies that could impact audiologists and SLPs include:

• Federal agencies, including the Departments of Labor and Education, will build AI competencies into career and technical education, apprenticeships, and job training programs.
• The government will provide potential tax benefits for employers that fund AI-related upskilling (pending guidance from the Internal Revenue Service).
• The Department of Labor will support fast-tracked retraining for health care workers impacted by AI integration.
• A new federal hub will study AI’s effect on health care jobs, including wages, hiring trends, and occupational demand.

Data Sharing and Protection

The plan supports innovation through data-enabled tools and infrastructure improvements. However, details regarding health care data sharing and privacy are still unclear—particularly around consent, governance, and protections against misuse. Data sharing activities outlined in the plan include:

• A National Secure Data Service portal to expand access to nonsensitive health data for AI model development;
• A requirement for federally funded researchers to share high-quality datasets for medical AI research;
• Infrastructure upgrades—such as expanded data centers and improved grid access—to boost AI processing capabilities for health systems and academic medical centers; and
• AI Information Sharing and Analysis Center (AI-ISAC) from the Department of Homeland Security to help critical sectors, including health care, defend against AI-driven cyber threats.

What’s Next

The plan emphasizes rapid deployment, deregulation, and infrastructure expansion, signaling a major shift in how AI will be integrated into health care. But questions remain around ethical safeguards, patient privacy, and the oversight role of agencies like the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services.

ASHA expects a changing compliance landscape as federal agencies roll out AI standards, pilot programs, and updated regulations. With speed and innovation prioritized over detailed rulemaking, providers should prepare for shifts in privacy requirements, reimbursement models, device approvals, and documentation standards—especially in telepractice and AI-assisted care.

ASHA will continue monitoring developments to ensure policies support innovation while upholding high-quality, ethical patient care.

Questions?

For questions, please contact reimbursement@asha.org.