The Federal Trade Commission has warned 24 of the nation’s largest healthcare services companies that leaving physician or facility fees out of a price estimate may break the law. FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson sent the letters, which the agency announced on October 5, 2026.

What the FTC letters say

According to the FTC’s announcement, the letters cover pricing for routine, scheduled, non-emergency care. The agency told the companies that failing to give patients timely, accurate and complete pricing information can be deceptive when it is likely to mislead a reasonable consumer. It singled out partial disclosures. A price that leaves out physician fees or facility fees, or covers only part of the care a patient is expected to need, may leave people thinking they have been given the total cost.

The FTC also raised a second theory. Opaque pricing may be unfair, the agency said, if it causes substantial injury to consumers that they cannot reasonably avoid and that the benefits do not outweigh. Both theories rest on Section 5 of the FTC Act, the law that bars deceptive and unfair practices. The letters do not accuse any company of breaking it, and the FTC says only that certain practices may violate it. The announcement does not name the 24 companies.

For a patient, the question is how to make sure an estimate is the whole price. The FTC’s warning gives the questions a specific shape. When a hospital or health system quotes a number for a scheduled test, procedure or visit, the estimate may cover only the building and supplies, with the doctor billed separately. The two fees the FTC names, physician fees and facility fees, are the ones to ask about by name before the date is set.

The letters went out October 5, but the date that matters most to a patient is the day a scheduled procedure is booked, since that is when the estimate is still open to questions. The Retirement Money Brief sends short alerts when dates like that arrive.

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The federal price rules are not a shield

Hospitals already face price transparency rules from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The FTC’s message is that following those rules is not enough. Ferguson’s letters say the CMS rules set a baseline, but they do not create a safe harbor from FTC Act liability. A company can meet the federal posting requirements and still run into trouble if the estimate it hands a patient before a scheduled procedure leaves out a bill that will follow.

Ferguson urged the companies to conduct a comprehensive review of their price disclosure practices and to take swift corrective action where needed. The agency’s Healthcare Task Force, created earlier in 2026, is part of the same push, and the FTC points to a recent lawsuit against Lens.com over contact lens pricing as related work.

Why this matters for the bill

A price estimate is the number a household uses to decide whether to schedule care, set money aside or compare two providers. If the estimate leaves out a physician’s fee, the household budgets for one amount and receives another. The FTC’s concern is that the gap is hard to see, because a patient who has been quoted a number reasonably assumes it is the total.

The agency did not announce a rule, a fine or a deadline for the companies. What exists today is a warning from the chairman and a statement of how the agency reads existing law. The FTC says the companies should review their own disclosures now, and it has not said whether it will act against any of them.

The same release shows where the agency is heading. Its Healthcare Task Force and the Lens.com case point to price disclosure as a continuing enforcement area, and the FTC’s press office can be reached at 202-326-2180 or [email protected] for questions about the announcement.

Ask for the full price in writing

The first free step is reading the FTC’s own announcement of the warning letters, which sets out the practices it considers misleading in plain terms. Then use those terms with the provider. Before scheduling a procedure, ask the billing office for a written estimate and ask directly whether it includes the physician’s fee and the facility fee.

Gather the details the office will need: the name of the procedure or test, the date, the facility, the doctor and your insurance plan and member number. Compare the written estimate with a second provider’s if there is time, and keep both. If a final bill comes in well above the estimate, the written number is the document to bring to the billing office.

Ask, too, whether any other clinicians who treat you will bill on their own, and keep the answer with the estimate. A clear answer on paper is worth more than a verbal quote at the front desk.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.