Comment on CMS-2026-2377-0002

Hello, I felt it important to comment my thoughts on allowing for AI to have billing codes and the negative impact that I feel will come from such a situation. Due to recent changes with financial aid for nursing programs, many people who aspired to join the nursing field are being blocked to enter the career path due to financial difficulties. While already experiencing a major nurse shortage since the COVID-19 pandemic, we are placing more and more stress on the existing infrastructure. If we allow for AI to have a billing code before skilled nurses, hospitals will then be more forward with using AI diagnostic and put out more skilled nurses making it more difficult for the industry to recover from the current shortages. Nursing is a fundamental component of healthcare that cannot be replaced by just anyone nor by a robot. Skilled nursing not only requires years of medical knowledge, but also empathy, which cannot be replaced by AI. When we place monetary value on the AI over nurses, we are risking the to lose the human connection between the healthy and the sick. Thank you for listening, Samantha E Hess; A concerned citizen