The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Oct. 29 that staff are sending notices to 25 health plan marketers and lead generators over advertising that may violate laws the agency enforces as consumers compare coverage during open enrollment.
The recipients market Affordable Care Act Marketplace policies or other health products, including limited indemnity plans and medical discount programs, according to the agency. The FTC flagged claims about benefits and coverage limits, whether a product is comprehensive medical insurance, plan costs, and offers of free items, cash rewards, rebates or other incentives.
The FTC said the notices do not conclude that recipients have acted unlawfully. Christopher Mufarrige, director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said “open enrollment is not an invitation to misrepresent what their plans actually cover.”
A sample letter sets out three laws relevant to the warnings: the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Rule on Impersonation of Government and Business. It explains that the telemarketing rule restricts certain robocalls and calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. The impersonation rule prohibits falsely claiming a connection to government agencies or businesses.
The template also references separate 2025 enforcement orders requiring Assurance IQ, LLC, to pay $100 million and MediaAlpha, Inc., to pay $45 million in consumer redress. In its announcement of that matter, the FTC said the two companies would pay $145 million combined to resolve charges that they misled people seeking health coverage. The agency alleged MediaAlpha gathered consumer information through websites purporting to offer health insurance quotes and sold it to telemarketers; it said the company sold about 119 million leads in 2024.
The FTC sent similar warnings to 21 companies in December 2024. It says more letters in the current effort will come in later rounds, but has not given dates or a total number of recipients.
