Agentic AI in Health Care: Regulatory Uncertainty, Federal Preemption, and Governance Strategies

• May 01, 2026

Andrew Mahler, Vice President of Privacy and Compliance Services, Clearwater, speaks with David Peloquin, Partner, Ropes & Gray LLP, about the emergence of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) in the health care industry and the accompanying legal and regulatory challenges. They discuss how agentic AI differs from earlier forms of AI, why this difference is legally meaningful in health care, some of the significant use cases that are being observed, the state legal and regulatory landscape, issues related to federal preemption and what a durable “patchwork” might look like, enforcement risks and how health care organizations should respond, and the core elements of an effective AI governance framework that can adapt to the changing legal and regulatory environment. David recently co-authored an article in Health Law Weekly about this topic. Sponsored by Clearwater.