FTC Launches Healthcare Task Force, Signaling Heightened Antitrust and Consumer Protection Enforcement

On March 20, 2026, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced the formation of a new Healthcare Task Force (Task Force), underscoring the FTC’s continued focus on competition and consumer protection in the healthcare sector.

In a memorandum to FTC staff, Chairman Ferguson stated that the Task Force will “ensure that the FTC is doing everything possible to take a comprehensive, coordinated, and effective approach” to address competition and consumer protection issues across healthcare markets. He emphasized that “[c]onsolidation and anticompetitive conduct have distorted the economic landscape in many healthcare markets,” producing “disturbing” outcomes for Americans. The initiative is the latest in a series of federal actions aimed at advancing the Trump administration’s enforcement priorities impacting the healthcare industry.¹

The Task Force will coordinate efforts across the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economics, Office of Policy Planning, and Office of Technology, reinforcing the agency’s dual mandate to protect competition and consumers. According to Chairman Ferguson, this coordination will include sharing “knowledge, resources, third-party sources, market intelligence, case leads, and relationships with other agencies and stakeholders.” The Task Force is also expected to collaborate with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to carry out its mission, and stakeholders should anticipate that such collaboration may lead to inquiries from the other Departments, focused on their departmental enforcement priorities, when the facts warrant it.

Chairman Ferguson’s memorandum identifies several core functions of the Task Force, including:

• Leading targeted enforcement and advocacy initiatives;
• Developing coordinated, agency-wide investigative strategies;
• Proactively identifying opportunities for amicus briefs and statements of interest; and
• Identifying emerging enforcement priorities.

The formation of the Task Force reiterates that “[h]ealthcare is a top priority for FTC enforcement.” The memorandum highlights recent healthcare enforcement efforts under the Trump administration, including two successful merger challenges in the healthcare space (Alcon/Lensar and Edwards/JenaValve). The memorandum further discussed the FTC’s continued focus on targeting medical devices that are allegedly improperly listed in the FDA’s Orange Book, as well the proposed consent order from February 2026 between the FTC and one of the leading PBMs (Express Scripts), which Chairman Ferguson described as a “landmark settlement.”

Key Takeaway: The healthcare industry remains a key focus of the FTC and the Trump administration. Companies operating in the healthcare sector — and parties to healthcare transactions in particular — should expect increased scrutiny and remain mindful of potential antitrust concerns and consumer protection issues when structuring deals and commercial arrangements.

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1. ^[1] See, e.g., Trump Administration Unveils New National Fraud Enforcement Division of DOJ, Goodwin (Jan. 12, 2026); Exec. Order No. 14395 (Mar. 16, 2026); Exec. Order No. 14221 (Feb. 25, 2025). ↩

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