Red Flags Rule Delayed Again

AOA Secures Eleventh-Hour Red Flags Rule Enforcement Delay

Facing mounting pressure from AOA and others, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced today that it will once again postpone enforcement of the Red Flags Rule, this time through Dec. 31, 2010. The FTC was scheduled to begin enforcement of the Rule June 1, 2010. However, AOA continued to pressure agency officials and urge key members of Congress to provide a permanent exemption for optometry practices and, ultimately, to secure the latest enforcement delay.

The May 28 announcement was the fifth consecutive delay and appears to signal an understanding on the part of the FTC that Congress is moving closer toward providing permanent relief for small business health care practices. Work will continue to secure a much needed permanent exemption. The U.S. House has already approved AOA-backed legislation (HR 3763) sponsored by Rep. Adler (D-NJ) that would exempt small business optometry and other health care practices with 20 employees or fewer from Red Flags requirements. However, Rep. Adler’s bill has stalled before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.

Within the past week, companion legislation to Rep. Adler’s bill has been introduced into the U.S. Senate (S. 3416)  by  John Thune (R-SD). AOA will use this added time to advance these bills and help ensure that Congress follows through on promises made and ultimately fixes the Red Flags issue. In a press release this morning, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said “Congress needs to fix the unintended consequences of the legislation establishing the Red Flags Rule – and to fix this problem quickly. We appreciate the efforts of Congressmen Frank and Adler for getting a clarifying measure passed in the House, and hope action in the Senate will be swift.”

The FTC announcement can be viewed on their Web site at: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/05/redflags.shtm.