FTC launches Healthcare Task Force

FTC launches Healthcare Task Force Task force may expand to include HHS and DOJ members in an integrated approach to enforcement and to preserve competition, FTC says. Compliance & Legal By Susan Morse , Executive Editor | March 24, 2026 | 10:54 AM Photo: River North Photography/Getty Images The Federal Trade Commission is forming a Healthcare Task Force that will include the FTC’s Bureaus of Competition, Consumer Protection and Economics and the Office of Policy Planning and Office of Technology.The Healthcare Task Force is also seeking to expand its membership to include other agencies and law enforcement partners such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice.On Friday, FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson directed staff to form the task force that would engage in a coordinated, integrated approach to healthcare enforcement and advocacy.This is the Commission’s latest action to “create a more competitive, innovative, affordable, and higher quality healthcare system” as directed by President Trump’s executive order, according to the FTC.

The Healthcare Task Force is expected to: Lead targeted enforcement and advocacy initiatives; devise coordinated agencywide strategies on investigations; take a proactive and strategic approach to identifying statement of interest opportunities; and identify emerging issues and new priority areas.FTC touted recent wins such as securing a settlement with Express Scripts, and its affiliated entities requiring them to adopt changes to their business practices that increase transparency. The changes are expected to lower patients’ out-of-pocket costs for drugs like insulin by up to $7 billion over 10 years, the FTC said.A competitive win cited was the abandonment of the proposed merger of eyecare device company Alcon with Lensar, a medical device company.Ferguson said the Healthcare Task Force will continue the FTC’s efforts to address existing and emerging consumer-protection and competition issues across the healthcare industry. Topic: Compliance & Legal, Policy and Legislation, Strategic Planning