Health Care Professionals Ask Ftc To Count Them Out

By Author: Jaun Paul
Total Articles: 53
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Owing to a legal victory for lawyers, there may be less regulatory paperwork for you. The news is that the American Bar Association (ABA) has won a lawsuit against Federal Trade Commission that will exclude ABA members from Red Flags Rule enforcement. And now health care provider trade groups are following suit and giving examples of ABA's victory in order to gain their own exclusion from the rule (that will require providers to have identity theft protection programs in place by the first of June).


The American Medical Association, American Dental Association, American Osteopathic Association, and American Veterinary Medical Association have asked the chairman of Federal Trade Commission to keep health care professionals out of the regulation. If they succeed in their efforts, the exclusion will most likely apply to all health care providers.


The trade group says in a release, The Federal Trade Commission's interpretation of the regulation imposes an unjustified, unfunded mandate ...
... on health professionals for detecting and responding to identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission has in fact overstepped its authority with the oft-delayed rule.

In a release, the ADA president said that the congress did not intend the original red flags legislation to apply to small businesses. Rather it was intended to encourage large businesses such as banks, credit firms and national retailers to implement best practices to protect customers from identity theft.

The bottom line is that applying the rule to health professionals and not to lawyers would not be fair, AMA President J. James Rohack says.

Provides weekly digest newswire about healthcare compliance news, and offers advanced Learning Opportunities about Red Flags Rule enforcement for healthcare executives and physician billers according to 2010 Work Plan.