FTC 向 25 家健康保险营销公司发出警告信 逐项点名四类误导说法
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）10 月 29 日宣布，该机构工作人员正向 25 家健康保险营销公司与销售线索生成公司发出警告信，提醒其不得就所售健康计划作出误导性宣传。信件发出的时点正值健康保险开放注册季。
FTC 在信中点名四类可能违法的说法：误述健康计划的保障内容或限制、把有限保障计划或医疗折扣项目说成是全面医疗保险、误述计划费用、以及虚假承诺参保者可获得免费优惠、现金奖励、返款或其他激励。
收到警告信的公司营销的产品包括《平价医疗法案》市场保险、有限赔偿（limited indemnity）计划与医疗折扣项目。FTC 说，警告信不构成对任何收信公司已违法的认定，收信公司名单未予公布，后续还将滚动发出更多警告信。
FTC 消费者保护局局长 Christopher Mufarrige 在新闻稿中说，开放注册不是误述计划实际保障范围的邀请。FTC 表示，违反电话营销与冒名规则的行为，每次违规最高可处 53,088 美元民事罚款。消费者如认为自己被误导，可通过 ReportFraud.ftc.gov 举报。
（来源：联邦贸易委员会）
FTC Sends Warning Letters to 25 Health Plan Marketers Over Four Types of Deceptive Claims
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on October 29 that its staff are sending warning letters to 25 companies that market healthcare plans or generate sales leads for them, cautioning against deceptive claims as health coverage open enrollment gets under way.
The letters flag four types of claims: misrepresenting a plan’s benefits or limitations, presenting a limited-benefit plan or medical discount program as comprehensive health insurance, misrepresenting what a plan costs, and falsely promising free offers, cash rewards, rebates or other enrollment incentives.
The letters cover marketers of Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans as well as limited indemnity plans and medical discount programs. The FTC said the letters do not allege wrongdoing by any recipient, did not name the companies, and that additional letters will be sent on a rolling basis.
“Open enrollment is not an invitation to misrepresent what their plans actually cover,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in the release. Violations of the telemarketing and impersonation rules can carry civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation, the agency said, and consumers who believe they were misled can report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
(Source: Federal Trade Commission)
来源：联邦贸易委员会
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：电话接线员工作照片（美国空军，公共领域；Wikimedia Commons）/ Switchboard operator at work (U.S. Air Force, public domain; via Wikimedia Commons)
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