Red Flag Rules

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1. Congress approves legislation that would exclude physicians from FTC " Red Flags " rule. Medscape Medical News reports that both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have passed a bill that would exempt healthcare providers from the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) Red Flags Rules. The Red Flag Rules would require businesses defined as " creditors " by the FTC to develop and implement written Identity Theft Prevention Programs. The FTC took the position that physicians are creditors and must comply with the Rule's provisions. A number of medical associations, including AAOS, have argued that FTC exceeded its statutory authority in applying the rule to physicians, who only incidentally extend credit to patients for services rendered. The new legislation (Red Flag Program Clarification Act of 2010) does not specifically mention physicians, but defines the word " creditors " to exclude any business that " advances funds on behalf of a person for expenses incidental to a service provided by the creditor to that person. " President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law prior to the Dec. 31, 2010 deadline. A bill to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act with respect to the applicability of identity theft guidelines to creditors. Status: Occurred: <http://www.govtrack.us/media/checkmark.gif> Introduced Nov 30, 2010 Occurred: <http://www.govtrack.us/media/checkmark.gif> Referred to Committee View Committee Assignments <http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3987 & tab=committees> Occurred: <http://www.govtrack.us/media/checkmark.gif> Passed Senate Nov 30, 2010 Occurred: <http://www.govtrack.us/media/checkmark.gif> Passed House Dec 7, 2010 Not Yet Occurred: <http://www.govtrack.us/media/box.gif> Signed by President ... Having passed in identical form in both the House and Senate, this bill now awaits the signature of the President before becoming law. [Last Updated: Dec 8, 2010 5:48PM] Beth Sullivan, DORidgeway Family PracticeCommerce, GA 30529