As we step into 2024, regulatory agencies and legislators are pushing out numerous rule proposals and bill introductions for consideration. It is not surprising that medical debt and collections are a key area of discussion with focus on items such as Artificial intelligence (AI); Privacy / PHI data storage; pre-recorded messaging; and digital content, including text messaging, emails, and chats.

Today, we are highlighting the recent release from the FCC, which would make changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), relating to consent revocation processes and handling timeframes. The FCC notes these three major changes in the proposal as what the order would do:

• Codifies the commission’s 2015 ruling that consumers can revoke consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act through any reasonable means while providing additional clarification on what “reasonable” means in this context
• Requires that “robocallers” and “robotexters” honor do-not-call and consent revocation requests as soon as practicable, and no longer than 10 business days from receipt
• Codifies the commission’s 2012 ruling, which clarified that a one-time message confirming a consumer’s request that no further text messages be sent does not violate the TCPA as long as the confirmation text merely confirms the called party's opt-out request and does not include any marketing information

The capture of consent prior to contact and the ability to revoke consent continue to be crucial points of legislation at the federal and state levels. When it comes to texting, we highly recommend reviewing your handling processes when a reply text is received.

Are you reviewing every text to determine the appropriate next steps from the consumer? Don’t rely on just keyword automations. What about emoji or picture responses? Consider each of these responses and what the “reasonable” interpretation for action should be on the account, then document your determination and response so it can be consistently applied by your staff.

If you would like to review the full text of the FCC’s proposed rulemaking discussed in this alert, it can be found in the FCC’s public documents.

For questions regarding this alert, please reach out to Jill Cloys, Director of Compliance: jill.cloys@meduitrcm.com.