FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent letters on Oct. 5 to 24 of the largest healthcare services companies, reminding them they must give patients timely, accurate and complete price information. The FTC says failing to do so can be an unfair or deceptive practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The letters focus on routine, non-emergency care scheduled in advance. They say compliance with the price transparency rules from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is a baseline, not a safe harbor from FTC Act liability. A price disclosure can still be deceptive if it is incomplete, such as when it leaves out physician or facility fees or covers only part of the expected course of care, because patients may reasonably believe they were told the total cost.
The FTC also says leaving out a price can mislead, and that inaccurate figures are misleading too. It adds that failing to give price information far enough ahead of a scheduled service can be unfair if consumers cannot compare providers and cannot reasonably avoid the harm.
The letters are warnings, not enforcement actions or findings against any company, and the release does not name the 24 recipients. Chairman Ferguson urged them to review their price disclosures and fix problems quickly. For patients, the practical point is to ask for the full expected cost, including professional fees, before scheduled care, and to get the answer in writing.