# Washington’s Medicaid program will pay for ElliQ, an AI robot for loneliness

- slug: washingtons-medicaid-program-will-pay-for-elliq-an-ai-robot-for-loneliness
- date: 2026-03-19
- category: Robotics

Washington just made history: the state will now pay for an AI robot companion under Medicaid — the first such statewide coverage in the country, according to Intuition Robotics.

The state Department of Social and Health Services announced Tuesday that ElliQ, an AI-powered social robot developed...

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