Hospitals must provide complete and accurate price information to patients before they agree to an elective procedure, or they may find themselves in federal court, Andrew Ferguson, director of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), said at a healthcare transparency forum on Oct. 5.
Ferguson said he’d written to the CEOs of 24 of the nation’s largest healthcare companies, reminding them that the FTC has the power to enforce federal laws on unfair and deceptive pricing.
“Let me be clear: these letters are a warning. Healthcare providers must disclose their prices to consumers and must do so starting today,” Ferguson told forum attendees….