FTC delays enforcement of Red Flags rule to June 1
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Posted Oct. 30, 2009 |
By Craig Palmer Washington—The FTC agreed Oct. 30 to a congressional request for "further delay" to June 1, 2010, of the Red Flags Rule as grassroots dentists urged final action on legislation to exempt most dental offices. The announcement was posted at www.ftc.gov.
The ADA Washington office continued coordinating the effort to bring the Federal Trade Commission and Congress to agreement on a statutory exemption while managing grassroots communications on the high-profile Red Flags issue.
With the identity theft regulation scheduled to take effect Nov. 1 for health care practices and other small businesses, Congress and the Federal Trade Commission appeared to be moving in the same direction on a legislative remedy, having cooperated on exemption legislation approved 400-0 by the House of Representatives (ADA News Today Oct. 21, U.S. House passes ADA-backed Red Flags exemption legislation).
The Senate was expected to act quickly, but not before Nov. 1, on similar legislation exempting certain businesses including, as in the House bill, "a health care practice with 20 or fewer employees," which means most private practice dental offices. A legislative aide to a House sponsor said Oct. 29, "Currently the legislation is pending in the Senate, and we expect the bill will be signed into law shortly."
Grassroots dentists continued to press for Senate action, nearly 4,400 sending messages to Senate offices Oct. 28-30, as measured by Capwiz. However, final passage and enrollment of legislation for White House action was not expected until after Nov. 1.
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