Troutman Pepper State Attorneys General Monitor – March 30, 2023

Authors:
Ashley L. Taylor, Jr.
Clay Friedman
Stephen Piepgrass
Avi Schick
Michael Yaghi
Stefanie Jackman
Alan Wingfield
Ketan Bhirud
Tim Bado
Chris Carlson
Natalia Jacobo
Namrata Kang
Susan Nikdel
John Sample
Whitney Shephard
Trey Smith
Daniel Waltz
Stephanie Kozol, Senior Government Relations Manager – State Attorneys General

State attorneys general increasingly impact businesses in all industries. Our nationally recognized state AG team has been trusted by clients for 20 years to navigate their most-complicated state AG investigations and enforcement actions.

State Attorneys General Monitor analyzes regulatory actions by state AGs and other state administrative agencies throughout the nation. Contributors to this newsletter and related blog include attorneys experienced in regulatory enforcement, litigation, and compliance.

Contact our State AG Team at StateAG@troutman.com.

State AG Updates

New York AG Cracks Down on No-Poach Agreements

By Troutman Pepper State Attorneys General Team

New York Attorney General Letitia James recently reached a $400,000 settlement with Affordable Senior Care of New York LLC (Affordable) for engaging in anticompetitive conduct in the homecare industry. New York-based Affordable acts as a “fiscal intermediary” registered with New York’s Medicaid program’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. Fiscal intermediaries like Affordable handle “timesheet processing, payments to a patient’s caregivers, and other administrative jobs on behalf of patients.” Patients can choose the caregiver of their choice, including a family member or a friend, and naturally, tend to pick the fiscal intermediary that pays a higher hourly wage.

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Colorado AG Backs Increased Consumer Protections for Medical Transactions

By Troutman Pepper State Attorneys General Team

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser recently released a press release, supporting new Senate Bill 23-093 called “Increase Consumer Protections Medical Transactions.” “Specifically, the bill would reduce medical debt for Colorado residents and make health care more affordable and accessible, protecting Coloradans from “high interest rates for medical debt and confusing debt collection practices that lead to long-lasting debt and financial instability.”

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New York AG Proposes Rules to Strengthen Price Gouging Law

By Troutman Pepper State Attorneys General Team

New York Attorney General Letitia James recently proposed the first-ever rules to strengthen enforcement of the state’s price gouging law, which prohibits companies from exploiting market disruptions to increase their profits on essential goods and services. In response to the influx of pandemic-related price gouging complaints, the 2020-amended law gives the AG rulemaking authority, among other changes.

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Twenty-Seven AGs Ask Congress to Pass Right-to-Repair Legislation

By Troutman Pepper State Attorneys General Team 

On March 24, a bipartisan group of 27 state attorneys general sent a letter to Congress, encouraging the passage of “right-to-repair” legislation to establish and secure a competitive marketplace for repairing vehicles, agricultural equipment, and electronics.

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Indiana AG Settles with Company over Allegedly Providing Unfair and Deceptive Personal Loans to Finance Auto Purchases

By Alan D. Wingfield, Stefanie Jackman, and Troutman Pepper State Attorneys General Team

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions announced a settlement in excess of $250,000 with Integrity Acceptance Corp., affiliated companies, and their owners to resolve allegations that they originated personal loans without the required license, contracted for charges in excess of the maximum allowable rate, misrepresented finance charges, and failed to disclose prepaid finance charges in violation of the Indiana Uniform Consumer Credit Code and Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. As part of the settlement, the entities will forgive $223,685 in loans, pay $33,991 in restitution, and pay $33,000 in civil penalties and costs to the state. The entities and their owners are also enjoined from engaging in similar conduct in the future. 

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