On August 7, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Assurance IQ, LLC and MediaAlpha, Inc. will pay a total of $145 million to settle FTC charges that they misled millions of consumers seeking to buy comprehensive health insurance. 

In two separate actions, the FTC alleged that both Assurance and MediaAlpha deceived consumers and led them to purchase plans that did not provide the promised health care coverage, and bombarded consumers with telemarketing and robocalls.

“Coherently and systematically addressing unlawful lead generation is a priority for the FTC. That’s especially so in connection to health insurance, one of the most expensive and important products consumers buy to protect themselves and their families. Consumers should receive accurate, truthful, and non-misleading information about the coverage insurance provides,” said FTC lawyer Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will take action when lead generators or other sellers break the law and harm the American people.”

Assurance IQ, LLC

According to the FTC, Seattle-based Assurance IQ, LLC, also doing business as Assurance, Assurance IQ, and National Family Assurance Corporation (collectively, Assurance), allegedly used telemarketing to deceptively market and sell health plans, specifically short-term medical (STM) and limited benefit indemnity (LBI) plans bundled with supplemental products like telemedicine plans, prescription discount plans, and dental and vision discount plans.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Assurance’s telemarketers allegedly made deceptive statements to consumers about the health plans’ actual costs and benefits, including that they provided coverage for preexisting conditions, did not have caps on benefits, allowed access to medical provider networks that would lower consumers’ costs significantly, and incorporated supplemental products.  The complaint also alleges that Assurance unfairly charged consumers without first getting their express informed consent.  The FTC alleges that this conduct violated the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).

The proposed court order  resolving the FTC’s allegations imposes a $100 million judgment against Assurance for violating the TSR which will be used to provide refunds to consumers.  It also prohibits Assurance from making a range of express and implied misrepresentations relating to health plans, including:

• the extent of and limits on coverage and benefits;
• the costs to the consumer to buy, receive, use, cancel, or return a health plan;
• that any plan, product, or service is included at no additional cost with the purchase of a health plan;
• that any health plan is Affordable Care Act-compliant insurance or comprehensive health insurance; and
• that any health plan gives consumers access to provider networks that will reduce their medical bills and expenses.

The order also requires that Assurance have “competent and reliable evidence” to substantiate any claim it makes regarding any health plan and to truthfully disclose actual costs and any limitations on the use or benefits of any health plan it offers.  In addition, the order bars Assurance from billing consumers for any health plan before getting express informed consent and from violating the TSR.

Contact an experienced FTC defense lawyer to discuss compliance with the TSR or if your company has been served with a Civil Investigative Demand or regulatory complaint.

The FTC filed the complaint and proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle.

Media Alpha

According to the FTC, Los Angeles-based MediaAlpha, Inc. and its operating subsidiary QuoteLab (collectively, MediaAlpha), allegedly use advertisements and websites claiming to provide health insurance quotes to collect information from consumers looking for insurance, so the information can be sold to telemarketers.  In 2024, MediaAlpha sold approximately 119 million leads about consumers, the FTC alleges.

According to the FTC’s complaint, MediaAlpha has attracted consumers to their healthcare-related lead generation websites using alleged misleading domains such as “ObamacarePlans.com” that purportedly imply they are associated with the government and claim that consumers will be able to buy low-cost, comprehensive health insurance that complies with the ACA.

The FTC also alleged that MediaAlpha has hired actors and celebrities to promote a non-existent government “Health Insurance Give Back Program” to drive consumer traffic to its health sites. MediaAlpha also allegedly paid a doctor to appear in scripted “advertorial” news segments and suggest that “millions of Americans … were able to qualify for a great health plan for $1 a day” using the defendants’ lead generation services.

Many consumers, including those whose phone numbers were listed on the national Do Not Call Registry, were allegedly flooded with robocalls and telemarketing calls that purportedly made false and misleading claims about the health care plans provided by MediaAlpha’s partners, who allegedly rarely provided the low-cost comprehensive health care plans that Media Alpha promised, according to the complaint.  

The FTC alleged that MediaAlpha violated the FTC Act, the TSR, and the Impersonation Rule.  A seasoned FTC CID lawyer can assist with the design and implementation of preventative compliance measures, including the implementation of monitoring practices to ensure that first and third-party compliance aligns with legal regulatory requirements and business marketing objectives.

The proposed court order resolving the FTC’s allegations imposes a $45 million judgment against MediaAlpha, which will be used to provide refunds to harmed consumers, according to the FTC.  

The order also:

• permanently bars MediaAlpha from making the types of deceptive claims alleged in the FTC’s complaint, including misrepresentations regarding government affiliation, endorsements and the amount of time consumers have to act;
• prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting the costs or features of the goods or services they or their partners sell and requires competent and reliable evidence supporting any claims the defendants make about those goods or services;
• requires the defendants to implement robust monitoring practices to ensure that they and their partners comply with the law in the future;
• requires MediaAlpha to turn over various allegedly deceptive web domains, including GovernmentHealthInsurance.com and ObamacarePlans.com, and to clearly and conspicuously notify consumers that any healthcare-related website it operates in the future is not affiliated with or endorsed by the government; and
• requires the defendants to obtain consumers’ express informed consent to collect, sell, or disclose any personal information.

The FTC filed the complaint and proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.