The FTC sent warning letters to 24 large healthcare services companies, cautioning that incomplete, inaccurate, or untimely pricing information for scheduled medical care may be unfair or deceptive. The letters urge recipients to review their price-disclosure practices and take corrective action; they announce no fine or formal order.
The letters urge healthcare services companies to conduct a comprehensive review of their price-disclosure practices and take swift corrective action as needed. No monetary penalty or formal remedy is announced.
Healthcare providers should review customer-facing service agreements, estimates, and billing disclosures to ensure prices for scheduled care are clear, accurate, complete, and provided sufficiently in advance, including applicable physician and facility fees and the expected course of care. Vendor agreements with billing, scheduling, and pricing-platform providers should allocate responsibility for maintaining accurate price information, timely updates, and complete disclosures; include audit and correction obligations; and avoid treating CMS price-transparency compliance as a substitute for FTC Act compliance. This action does not concern privacy obligations, so employee privacy or data-processing clauses are not directly implicated.
Entity
24 healthcare services companies (not individually named)
Industry
Healthcare"letters to 24 of the nation’s largest healthcare services companies"
"Section 5 of the FTC Act"
"the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ price transparency rules"
"failing to provide transparent price information, particularly for routine and non-emergency medical care scheduled in advance."
"conduct a comprehensive review of their price disclosure practices and take swift corrective action as needed."
The FTC referred a complaint against REPS & Company Inc. and company executives, alleging they bypassed ticket-issuer security controls and purchasing limits to acquire millions of tickets for resale. The complaint was filed by the Department of Justice, and the case will be decided by the court; the press release does not report a penalty or other remedy imposed.
The FTC sued Digital Forensics Corporation LLC and affiliated defendants, alleging they misled sextortion victims with promises of investigative and monitoring services that often were not provided, and used fake positive reviews. A federal court granted the FTC’s request to temporarily halt the defendants’ activities; the complaint remains for the court to decide.
The FTC alleged that Greenway Auto Group advertised vehicle prices thousands of dollars below the amounts consumers actually paid and used mailers falsely suggesting recipients had won cash prizes. Greenway agreed to an order requiring transparent pricing and prohibiting deceptive prize mailers and other misrepresentations; the press release does not state a monetary penalty.
$1.9M
The FTC alleged that Premier Franchising Group LLC and Franchise Fastlane LLC made deceptive and unsubstantiated claims about the Premier Martial Arts franchise opportunity and violated the Franchise Rule. The proposed settlements require the companies to pay a combined $1.85 million to compensate franchisees, prohibit certain misrepresentations, and require Franchise Rule compliance; certain franchisees may also cancel their agreements without penalty.
The FTC, Utah, and Nevada sued Lens.com Inc., alleging that it advertised artificially low contact lens prices while hiding mandatory checkout charges and misleading consumers about its AutoRefill subscription. The complaint seeks to stop the alleged practices; the court has not yet decided the case, and no penalty or remedy has been imposed.
The FTC issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on whether ad-optimization tools offered by online platforms may help scammers impersonate businesses and government agencies. This is a proposed regulatory inquiry, not an enforcement action against a named company; no penalty or remedy was imposed.