Centene CEO Sarah London: AI goes to billing, not care

Sarah London's argument rests on a gap she sees between where venture money goes and where need is greatest. She noted that most health care venture funding follows the money, and the money is not in Medicaid, meaning underserved communities often never benefit from innovation. Centene itself is built around those communities, running Medicaid plans and selling individual marketplace and Medicare Advantage plans.

Her critique of current AI deployment is that the largest investments are in what she called inflationary use cases, meaning driving more revenue in a fee-for-medical-service system. Automating paperwork and claims payment, she said, while valuable, misses the chance to break the system by democratizing care. She described a future where AI lets community health workers handle the first round of triage for non-acute problems in medical deserts, and gives patients more agency to make initial decisions about their own care—something she said could affect medical costs and free funding for actual care.

For now, London acknowledged the vision is a work in progress. Centene's current AI use is limited to administrative communications with members, and the goal of interactive patient-facing tools remains ahead. She also emphasized that administrative savings matter, saying every dollar saved on administration can be applied to benefits.