The FTC warned 24 of the biggest U.S. healthcare companies that leaving facility fees out of prices can be deceptive

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson signed warning letters dated Oct. 5, 2026, to 24 of the nation’s largest healthcare services companies, telling them that a price quote missing physician or facility fees can mislead patients. The letters treat price as a material term of any healthcare sale and ask each recipient to audit how it discloses cost before a patient books routine, scheduled care.

The agency has not published a list of recipients, and the letters carry no deadline.

Facility and physician fees under Section 5

The FTC’s announcement frames the problem as incomplete disclosure. A price statement that omits physician or facility fees, or that covers only part of the expected course of care, may still mislead a patient who reads it as the total bill. Inaccurate disclosures are described the same way, and the focus is on care scheduled in advance rather than emergencies. The agency says price is a material term, so clear and conspicuous disclosure is often needed before a patient commits to a procedure, a visit or a course of treatment, and a partial figure can leave the patient with a false picture of what the care will cost once every bill arrives.

The sample text published on the agency’s site is blunt about the mechanism. In the template letter, Ferguson writes that disclosures can be deceptive “when they omit certain charges like physician fees or facility fees,” and that Section 5 of the FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

A second theory sits beside deception. Pricing that is incomplete, inaccurate or late, even though it was reasonably available in advance, can amount to an unfair practice if it causes substantial consumer injury that patients cannot reasonably avoid and that is not outweighed by benefits to consumers or competition. In that reading, a patient who cannot compare providers because prices surface only after care has been delivered is harmed in a way no individual shopper can easily avoid, which is why the agency pairs the unfairness theory with the deception one.

CMS price transparency rules as a floor

Hospitals already operate under a federal posting regime. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires every U.S. hospital to publish a comprehensive machine-readable file of items and services plus a consumer-friendly display of shoppable services. The rule took effect Jan. 1, 2021, and enforcement of the updated requirements began April 1, 2026. CMS audits a sample of hospitals, investigates complaints, and can impose civil monetary penalties on those that fall short, so the posting rules carry real consequences of their own.

The FTC letters say that regime is not the end of the analysis. Ferguson calls the CMS rules “a regulatory floor,” and the release states that they “do not create a safe harbor from FTC Act liability.” A hospital can satisfy CMS and still face questions from the FTC about the number it gives a patient.

Law firm King & Spalding, in its analysis of the letters, reads them as the FTC positioning itself as a second enforcer next to CMS, and advises providers to check whether estimates capture both professional and facility fees and whether quoted prices match what is later billed. Fierce Healthcare adds that CMS had sent warning notices or corrective action plan requests to more than 500 hospitals between April and early June, which gives the FTC a ready-made backdrop of widespread noncompliance to point to.

Ferguson’s warning and the Healthcare Task Force

At the event where the letters were announced, Ferguson said “these letters are a warning,” according to Fierce Healthcare, and that healthcare providers must disclose their prices to consumers or “the FTC will take them to court.” The same report quotes him saying price transparency investigations of hospitals are already open, a statement that turns the letters from a general reminder into a signal about where staff attention is already directed.

The letters grow out of the Healthcare Task Force Ferguson created on March 20, 2026, to coordinate enforcement and advocacy across the agency. The task force is meant to develop investigation strategies, identify amicus and statement-of-interest opportunities, and eventually draw in partners from HHS and the Justice Department.

A companion case landed days earlier. On Oct. 2, the FTC and the Utah and Nevada attorneys general sued Lens.com in federal court in Nevada, alleging the retailer advertised low contact lens prices and then added a “Taxes & fees” charge at checkout that often roughly doubled them. Christopher Mufarrige, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the company “advertised one price for contact lenses but charged a substantially higher price at checkout.” The allegations have not been decided by a court.

Limits of a warning letter

The template letter says it is not a particularized assessment of any recipient’s practices and does not conclude that a violation has occurred. It asks for three things: a comprehensive review of price-transparency practices, confirmation that pricing for scheduled services is timely, accurate and complete, and swift corrective action where practices fall short. Questions go to a dedicated FTC mailbox for healthcare price transparency, and the agency promises to keep monitoring the market and act as warranted.

The release names no recipient, and the 24 letters are the only count the agency has given. Whether any of them becomes a case depends on the investigations Ferguson says are already running.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

More from Morning Overview