Putting people first: how TeamCare approaches artificial intelligence

Since 1950, TeamCare has provided health benefits to hardworking Teamsters and their families. The world has changed in ways few could have predicted, and we have changed with it. Always with the same goal: to take care of the people who count on us. Today, much of that change centers on artificial intelligence, or AI. We want to share how TeamCare thinks about it, and the commitments we are making to you.

Our approach is straightforward. We will only consider using AI where it can help us serve you better, and only in ways that are responsible, ethical, and secure. New technology is not a reason to lower the standard of care you have earned. That standard is the test any new technology has to pass before we will use it.

You may have read stories about AI being used to make decisions in health care. We want to be clear about where TeamCare stands: decisions about your benefits, your claims, and your appeals are made by qualified people involved throughout all steps, not by a machine. Some responsibilities are too important to hand to a computer, and the care of you and your family sits at the very top of that list. A knowledgeable person stays involved in the decisions that affect you.

Where we do use AI, it supports our team rather than replacing them. For example, helping summarize notes during a call so our representatives can spend less time on paperwork and more time listening to you. 

Protecting your information remains one of our highest priorities. We hold any use of these tools to strict privacy and security standards, and your sensitive information is not shared with public AI tools.

Every proposed use of AI is carefully reviewed before approval, and if it does not meet our standards, we do not move forward. For more than 75 years, our mission has not changed – to provide the people of TeamCare with the quality health benefits they have earned. The technologies of the day will keep evolving. Our commitment to you, and to the human care behind every decision will remain constant, even as we continue to strengthen and refine how we deliver it.