If you work in Florida and have signed a noncompete agreement, the landscape is now considerably worse. The new CHOICE Act makes Florida the most employer-friendly noncompete state in the country — and the federal lifeline many employees were counting on has been cut. If you work in healthcare, the story is more complicated than the headlines suggest.
The CHOICE Act: Built for Employers, Not Employees
On July 1, 2025, Florida’s Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act took effect, extending the maximum enforceable noncompete period to four years, the longest in the nation, and requiring courts to issue immediate injunctions to enforce qualifying agreements. Courts can no longer freely weigh the economic hardship a noncompete causes you; the burden now falls on the employee to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that the restriction shouldn’t apply. The federal safety net is also gone: the FTC formally abandoned its nationwide noncompete ban on September 5, 2025, leaving state law to govern.
Healthcare Professionals: Exempt from the CHOICE Act, But Not from Noncompetes
Here is where many healthcare workers get a false sense of security. The CHOICE Act expressly exempts licensed healthcare practitioners, like physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, chiropractors, psychologists, mental health counselors, and others licensed under Florida Statutes §456.001. But the exemption does not mean freedom from noncompetes. It simply means their agreements fall under Florida’s existing non-compete law, Florida Statute Section 542.335, which is still very employer-friendly.
Under §542.335, a noncompete is enforceable if it is in writing, protects a legitimate business interest (such as patient relationships or confidential information), and contains reasonable time and geographic restrictions. Courts can modify (also known as blue-pencil) overly broad agreements rather than void them, cannot consider your personal economic hardship, and award prevailing employers attorneys’ fees. In short: the CHOICE Act’s supercharged enforcement tools don’t apply to healthcare workers, but a well-drafted noncompete under the pre-existing law is still very much enforceable against them.
Two Real Exceptions Healthcare Workers Should Know About
Florida does provide two meaningful carve-outs. First, under Florida Statute §542.336 (enacted in 2019), a noncompete is void if a single employer controls all physicians of a particular specialty in a given county, a protection designed to preserve patient access in underserved areas.
Second, Florida courts have recognized a public policy defense for physicians. Courts may decline to enforce a noncompete if doing so would cause a genuine shortage of physicians in a specific specialty or location, or if enforcement would seriously disrupt the patient-physician relationship for patients with chronic or complex conditions. This is not an easy argument to win, but it is a recognized one.
The core public policy argument is straightforward. Forcing a doctor, nurse, or specialist out of a community doesn’t just harm that individual — it harms patients. Courts and federal regulators are increasingly recognizing that healthcare noncompetes raise consumer protection concerns, not just employment law ones.
The FTC Is Escalating: A New Healthcare Task Force
Even without a blanket noncompete ban, the FTC has significantly escalated its focus on healthcare. On March 20, 2026, the agency established a dedicated Healthcare Task Force, an internal, cross-disciplinary body charged with coordinating enforcement, research, and policy across all healthcare market issues, including noncompetes and other restrictive agreements.
The agency has already taken concrete steps targeting healthcare noncompetes. On September 10, 2025, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson sent warning letters to several large healthcare employers and staffing firms—recipients were not publicly named—directing them to immediately review and discontinue any noncompetes that are “unfair or anticompetitive.” Chair Ferguson warned that companies ignoring those letters should expect civil investigative demands and litigation. While no enforcement case against a healthcare employer for noncompetes has been filed as of this writing, the FTC’s first major noncompete action against Gateway Services, a national pet cremation company, produced a finalized consent order in November 2025 requiring the company to cease enforcing noncompetes against nearly 1,800 workers. That case is widely seen as a template for what is coming in healthcare.
The Task Force is designed to identify anticompetitive conduct in healthcare markets, examine deceptive practices harming patients and consumers, and develop policy recommendations to promote fair competition. Providers, payers, staffing firms, and intermediaries can all expect heightened scrutiny of transactions, contracting practices, and conduct that restricts competition or misleads consumers.
For healthcare workers, this matters. The Task Force signals that the FTC views noncompetes not just as an employment law issue, but as a consumer protection and competition problem. Employers who use overbroad noncompetes to limit patient access, suppress wages, or block competition should expect the Task Force’s attention. Healthcare professionals should closely monitor further Task Force developments and consult experienced non-compete counsel to navigate this shifting enforcement landscape.
What You Should Do Now
If you are a physician, nurse, physical therapist, or any licensed healthcare professional in Florida, do not assume your noncompete is unenforceable simply because the CHOICE Act excludes you. Read your agreement carefully, check whether Florida Statute §542.336 applies to your county and specialty, and document your patient relationships. If you are considering a new position, consult an employment attorney first. Federal scrutiny of healthcare noncompetes is real and growing, and the cost of that conversation is far less than the cost of an injunction. Stay informed. Sass, Everhart & Silva advises healthcare professionals on noncompete matters and is prepared to litigate on their behalf when it counts.