The new initiative aims to address consumer harm and anti-competitive practices across the healthcare industry.
Category: Politics
On March 20, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the formation of a new Healthcare Task Force, a strategic move aimed at tackling anti-competitive practices and consumer harm within the medical industry. The task force will prioritize enforcement and advocacy for patients and healthcare workers and for taxpayers, signaling a heightened commitment to ensuring fair practices across this substantial sector.
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson cited President Trump’s February 2025 executive order, titled “Making America Healthy Again,” which served to galvanize this initiative. “Making America’s healthcare system work more effectively is a no-brainer,” Ferguson stated, underscoring the significance of the healthcare sector, which comprises an extraordinary 18% of the nation’s GDP. He emphasized that too many Americans are struggling to access the care they need at prices they can afford.
The task force will be spearheaded by five heads of various FTC bureaus: Daniel Guarnera (Competition), Christopher Mufarrige (Consumer Protection), Ted Rosenbaum (Economics), Brendan Chestnut (Policy Planning), and Ian Mason (Acting Chief Technology Officer). Their collective expertise will be instrumental for the task force, which aims to orchestrate targeted enforcement initiatives and develop coordinated strategies for investigations.
Ferguson outlined four key action items for the task force: leading focused enforcement initiatives, devising agency-wide strategies for investigations, proactively identifying legal cases for FTC involvement, and monitoring new priority areas for enforcement. The task force will also recruit personnel from outside the FTC, including members from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), to bolster its efforts.
“We must remain vigilant against unlawful business practices within the healthcare space,” Ferguson wrote. He reiterated the agency’s dual mandate to protect the American public from unfair or deceptive practices and methods of competition. The FTC’s relevant expertise and extensive work across its Bureaus and Offices will play a key role moving forward.
But the FTC’s actions don’t stop at the formation of this task force. The agency has been actively pursuing measures to limit the use of non-competition agreements, particularly within the healthcare sector. Backing its commitment, the FTC promulgated a nationwide rule banning most non-competition agreements back on March 20, 2024. Following over a year of litigation that delayed enforcement, the Trump administration announced on September 5, 2025, that it would drop its attempts to overturn injunctions blocking the rule.
Even with this setback, the FTC has continued its efforts to curb non-compete agreements, especially those that stifle competition and innovation. On September 4, 2025, the agency launched a public inquiry aimed at gathering information on the prevalence and effects of employer noncompete agreements. This inquiry solicits comments from the public to highlight unfair and anti-competitive agreements, acknowledging that, “available evidence indicates that they are often subject to abuse.”
The inquiry's findings suggest that noncompete agreements can unjustifiably hinder workers from pursuing new job opportunities, impede new business formation, and restrict labor mobility from oversaturated to underserved markets. These practices, the FTC warns, lead to lower worker earnings, lost innovation, and higher consumer prices, negatively impacting the quality of life for both workers and consumers.
Simultaneously, the FTC has taken action against Gateway US Holdings Inc., the nation’s largest pet cremation business, which required nearly 1,800 employees to sign noncompete agreements. The FTC's complaint alleges that these agreements were unfair methods of competition, violating Section 5 of the FTC Act. Such agreements prohibited employees from working within the pet cremation industry for one year after leaving Gateway, regardless of their job roles.
To reinforce its stance, on September 10, 2025, Ferguson sent warning letters to several large healthcare employers and staffing firms, indicating that the FTC is dedicating resources to enforcing Section 5 of the FTC Act against unlawful non-competes, particularly within healthcare. He urged companies using unfair or anti-competitive non-compete agreements to discontinue them immediately and inform relevant employees.
The FTC is also scrutinizing “no-hire” agreements, which have been shown to suppress competition. A notable case involved Adamas Amenity Services LLC, which reached a consent agreement with the FTC to cease enforcement of its no-hire clauses. These clauses restricted building owners from hiring Adamas’ employees and limited competition among service providers.
Legislative movements to limit non-compete agreements are also gaining traction at the state level, with recent efforts observed across Maryland and the District of Columbia. This growing patchwork of regulations, combined with the FTC’s targeted enforcement efforts, could complicate compliance for employers, particularly those operating within the healthcare sector. Legal experts recommend that employers seek legal counsel to navigate these changes effectively.
Amid these developments, the FTC’s Healthcare Task Force is expected to coordinate immediate enforcement and policy efforts, aiming to expand its collaboration with additional federal and law enforcement partners. This proactive approach seeks to address rising healthcare costs, limited competition, and misleading business practices that have long plagued the industry.
Following recent FTC actions targeting pharmacy benefit managers, healthcare mergers, and deceptive insurance marketing, the task force’s initiatives could have widespread ramifications. For example, a recent settlement with a pharmacy benefit manager is projected to lower out-of-pocket insulin costs by billions over time.
With the FTC now equipped with a dedicated task force, the agency's commitment to improving competition and protecting consumers within the healthcare sector is clearer than ever. The task force’s coordinated approach promises to address systemic issues and hold accountable those entities that engage unfairly within this $4 trillion industry. This development marks a notable chapter for regulatory oversight, with the potential to significantly impact how healthcare is delivered and accessed across the United States.