Elevating Healthcare Oversight: FTC Unveils Task Force to Address Market Consolidation and Innovation

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On March 20, 2026, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), Andrew N. Ferguson, issued a memorandum to bureau leaders at the FTC entitled “Directive Regarding Healthcare Task Force.”^[1] Citing President Trump’s executive order to “create a more competitive, innovative, affordable and higher quality healthcare system”, the memo states that healthcare is a priority for enforcement and advocacy work by the FTC.^[2] Ferguson asserts that healthcare makes up 18% of the domestic gross product, yet health insurance, medical care and prescriptions are often not accessible to Americans.^[3] The memo further opines that consolidation and anticompetition in the healthcare market results in higher prices, decreased quality, less access and transparency, as well as stifled innovation.^[4]

Ferguson stresses that the FTC has the ability to police unlawful business practices in the healthcare space due to the extensive knowledge of its various bureaus and offices.^[5] The intent of the memo was to announce the creation of the Healthcare Task Force that combines the expertise and efforts of multiple bureaus under the FTC, including the Bureau of Competition, the Bureau of Consumer Protection, the Bureau of Economics, the Office of Policy Planning and the Office of Technology, to combat issues involving competition and consumer protection in healthcare.^[6]

The Healthcare Task Force will take a coordinated, forward-looking approach

The memo was very focused on the purpose of the Healthcare Task Force without providing specific details on operational logistics. Ferguson did make clear that the Task Force will:

• devise coherent agency-wide strategies on new and emerging investigations;
• attempt to influence courts through amicus briefs and statements of interest; and
• conduct ongoing horizon-scanning exercises to identify emerging issues and new priority areas for enforcement and advocacy. ^[7]

The emphasis on agency-wide strategies and inclusion of five FTC bureaus in the task force shows the FTC is looking for more coordination and shared resources between these bureaus. These goals also all indicate a focus on staying ahead of potential issues in the healthcare industry rather than reacting to them after-the-fact. Expect increased activity by the FTC in attempts to influence federal legislators and courts through the filing of briefs and statements of interest. 

The Healthcare Task Force will seek increased enforcement authority

The memo did not address whether the Healthcare Task Force will seek increased enforcement authority beyond the FTC’s civil enforcement authority. However, a simultaneous press release made by the FTC on its website indicated that the Healthcare Task Force seeks to partner with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice which strongly indicates the task force would like to bolster its enforcement authority.^[8] These agencies have subject matter expertise and access to patient and provider data not available to the FTC. These agencies also have the ability to impose enrollment sanctions, payment suspensions and overpayments against Medicare and Medicaid providers that the FTC does not possess. A coordinated effort between the FTC and the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) would align with a very recent campaign against healthcare fraud initiated by HHS.^[9]

The Healthcare Task Force will focus on maintaining competition, spurring innovation and eliminating deceptive marketing to consumers

The memo does not identify specific tasks or work plans that the Healthcare Task Force will be undertaking. The memo did list nine achievements of the FTC in the past year in healthcare advocacy and enforcement.^[10] This list gives context as to what types of issues the Healthcare Task Force will address going forward. The achievements listed are summarized as:

• Securing a settlement with Express Scripts, one of the U.S.’s largest pharmacy benefit managers, to make changes that are expected to drop down out-of-pocket patient costs for drugs like insulin by an estimated $7 billion over 10 years
• Challenging an acquisition in the U.S. market for transcatheter aortic valve replacement with the goal of preserving innovation, product quality and potentially, pricing
• Stopping the merger of the two most significant companies in the market for laser systems used in femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery to preserve competition that had spurred prior innovation
• Causing Teva Pharmaceuticals to remove more than 200 improper patents from the FDA which shielded brand name epinephrine autoinjectors and certain asthma, diabetes and COPD drugs from generic competition
• Obtaining $145 million in consumer redress from companies that mislead individuals into buying indemnity, telemedicine and health discount plans
• Obtaining a restraining order from a company the FTC alleges causes tens of millions of dollars of harms to consumers through deceptive marketing of health care plans
• Obtaining $2.4 million in consumer redress from substance-abuse facilities that used telemarketers to lure individuals with substance-abuse disorders to their facilities
• Obtaining redress for consumers from a telehealth company that used deceptive cost and weight loss claims to bait consumers into buying their weight-loss programs
• Sending refund checks to hundreds of consumers who bought products with deceptive marketing claims about the treatment of COVID-19, cancer and Parkinson’s disease^[11]

The creation of the Healthcare Task Force by the FTC signals a more coordinated and institutionalized approach to the FTC’s oversight of the healthcare industry. The task force seeks to join forces with other agencies to increase its enforcement authority. It also indicates that the FTC will focus on not just after-the-fact enforcement, but forward-looking policies to benefit healthcare consumers. Healthcare organizations should take heed and expect heightened scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions and marketing practices.

Maynard Nexsen will continue to follow the policy-shaping activities and enforcement actions undertaken by the newly commissioned Healthcare Task Force.

^{[1] Memo from Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson regarding Healthcare Task Force
[2]
[3] See id.
[4] See Id.
[5] See Id.
[6] See Id.
[7] See id.
[8] FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson Launches Healthcare Task Force | Federal Trade Commission
[9] Trump Administration Prioritizes Affordability by Announcing Major Crackdown on Health Care Fraud | HHS.gov
[10] See id.
[11] See id.}