Personal AI agents promise to shop, book flights, and make reservations for you. But deliberate blocks and anti-bot defenses are getting in the way, leaving consumers caught in the middle. A new standard aims to help. spr.ly/6018BGFdTg

In 1968, the NYSE closed Wednesdays because back offices couldn't move paper fast enough. The fix was a neutral clearing utility that nobody thinks about today. Healthcare has the same problem. It has never built the fix. The largest clearinghouse in the country is owned by the largest health insurer in the country. In Feb 2024 a ransomware attack took it dark for weeks. 9+ billion in emergency provider advances. 2.2 billion in direct costs. 190 million records exposed. That is a structural problem, not an IT problem. A JAMA waste analysis estimated that simplifying administration could save roughly 265 billion dollars a year. That estimate is 7 years old. The intervention still does not exist. Both sides are spending that money fighting each other instead. Federal rules generally require prior auth programming interfaces live by January 2027 for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and qualified health plans. The data standard exists. The neutral network does not. That is the gap a venture-built clearing utility could fill. Subscribe to onhealthcare.tech for free and paid articles, podcasts, and more. For a further deep dive on the topic from today's video teaser, see the podcast and article link in onhealthcare.tech/p/the-vc-b…