Telehealth Pricing After the FTC's Lens.com Lawsuit

The price in your ad is a promise. The total on the checkout screen is the contract. When the two are far apart, regulators tend to stop caring how the gap came about.

Four days ago the FTC filed a case about exactly that gap, against a company that sells contact lenses. Lens.com is not telehealth. But if your clinic advertises a low monthly price and then adds a consult fee, a membership fee and a pharmacy fee, you should read the complaint as if it were about you.

Educational content only. This is not legal advice, and everything described here is an allegation that a court will decide.

What did the FTC allege against Lens.com?

That the number in the ad and the number at checkout were two different numbers.

The FTC, joined by the attorneys general of Utah and Nevada, filed in the District of Nevada against Lens.com Inc., its owner and an affiliated entity, after a 2-0 Commission vote.¹ The complaint alleges the company advertised artificially low prices in sponsored Google search ads and on its website, then added a mandatory "Taxes & fees" charge at checkout.¹

The FTC says the label suggested state sales taxes were included, though many states exempt contact lenses from sales tax or have none. It also alleges the line item sat below the visible screen area while a prominent "Continue" button encouraged people to move on, so consumers who clicked it never saw the charge.¹

The subscription piece

The complaint says Lens.com's AutoRefill plan is a negative option that automatically charges consumers for recurring shipments. It alleges the company used the same low advertised prices to enroll people, did not clearly disclose the "Taxes & fees" charge before collecting billing information and placed cancellation instructions and deadlines outside the purchase flow.¹

The legal basis

The claims named are the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Utah's Consumer Sales Practices Act, Utah's Automatic Renewal Contracts Act and Nevada's Deceptive Trade Practices Act.¹ The release states that the case will be decided by the court.¹

Why should a telehealth clinic read a contact lens complaint?

Because the pricing architecture is the same and the patient is just as likely to feel tricked.

Think about the stack a patient may meet on the way to a prescription: a headline monthly price, a consultation fee, a membership, a pharmacy or dispensing charge, shipping and sometimes labs. Each can be legitimate. The risk is that the ad shows one layer and the checkout reveals the rest.

This example is illustrative only and does not describe any real company. Suppose an ad says "$99 a month." The checkout then adds a $25 consultation fee, a $15 membership fee and $10 for shipping. The first charge is $149, which is about 50% above the advertised price, and the patient sees that only at the last step. Whether any version of that is lawful depends on the facts and the law that applies, which is why this is a conversation for your attorney. But as a patient I would feel misled, and that feeling is where refunds, disputes and complaints start.

The FTC has already put billing and consent at the center of its July 29, 2026 complaint against Hims & Hers, alleging that billing information was requested at intake despite assurances that consumers would not be charged unless a medication was prescribed.³ I go through that case in FTC v. Hims & Hers: The Subscription and Consent Lessons.

Which telehealth fees deserve a second look?

Any fee a patient must pay to start or keep the service.

Required versus optional

A required fee is one the patient cannot avoid if they want the care: consultation, membership, dispensing, shipping on a prescription. These belong in the price you advertise. An optional add-on, such as a lab panel the patient chooses, can be shown separately as long as it is clearly optional.

First charge versus recurring charge

The price on the first invoice and the price in month two can differ. Say both. If a promotional first month rolls into a higher rate, the higher rate belongs beside the promotional one, in the same type size.

Labels

Name a fee for what it is. The Lens.com complaint is specifically about a charge labeled "Taxes & fees" that allegedly implied taxes.¹ A clinic fee should be called a clinic fee.

Is there a federal pricing rule for telehealth?

Not one written for it, but that is not a reason to relax.

The FTC's fees rule took effect on May 12, 2025 and applies to live-event ticketing and short-term lodging. It does not ban any type or amount of fee. It requires telling consumers the total price up front.² It does not cover telehealth.

The telehealth exposure comes from other places. Deception law is the basis in the Lens.com case. For subscriptions, ROSCA bans online negative options unless the seller clearly discloses all material terms before obtaining billing information, gets express informed consent before charging and provides simple mechanisms to stop recurring charges.⁴ And California's amended automatic renewal law, which took effect July 1, 2025, requires express affirmative consent to the renewal terms and says consumers must be able to cancel as easily as they signed up.⁵

For the history of the federal cancellation rule, read Click-to-Cancel Was Vacated. Build the Easy Exit Anyway. Without that rule the laws above still apply.

How do you build a price page that holds up?

Show the whole price where the price first appears.

If you advertise on search or social platforms, ads are part of this. The complaint is as much about the sponsored search ads as the checkout.¹ My notes on telehealth promotions compliance cover the ad copy side.

What should you do this week?

Buy your own service as a patient would, with a clean browser and a phone. Write down the price you saw in the ad, the first price in the checkout and the final charge. If they differ, find out why and decide whether the gap is explained on the page.

Then do the same for cancellation. Count the steps. Where the instructions live is part of the product.

Clean pricing is not just defensive. It reduces disputes and refund requests, and it makes a good first impression at the exact moment the patient decides whether to trust you. If you want help walking your funnel, the telehealth page is a good start.

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