Eight taken into custody in Southern California in alleged health care, hospice fraud case

Key Points:

• Federal officials arrested eight individuals linked to health care fraud schemes totaling $50 million in the Los Angeles area, with five cases involving hospice-care centers that allegedly billed Medicare for patients not qualifying for hospice services.
• The Trump administration has intensified anti-fraud efforts in California, labeling it the “kingdom of fraud,” while Governor Gavin Newsom’s office highlighted the state’s aggressive actions against hospice fraud, including revoking over 280 hospice licenses in two years.
• The largest case involved an Artesia-based hospice center owner who submitted over $9 million in fraudulent Medicare claims and paid beneficiaries to enroll in unnecessary hospice care, receiving more than $8.5 million in payments.
• Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced plans to review every hospice in California and proposed a new public hospice scoring system to identify potentially illegitimate providers.
• Additional arrests included individuals accused of defrauding a West Coast labor union’s health care plans and forging immigration medical documents; some defendants are still awaiting court dates and have not been arrested yet.