health
February 10, 2026
How hospice fraud has flourished in California
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TL;DR
- California is a hotspot for multimillion-dollar hospice fraud, primarily centered in Los Angeles.
- Dr. Mehmet Oz accused Russian-Armenian gangs of running these fraudulent hospice businesses.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized Oz's allegations as racist and baseless.
- Data shows a significant and disproportionate increase in Armenian use of in-home care programs and a sevenfold rise in hospice agencies in Los Angeles County.
- California's State Auditor and Attorney General have identified hospice fraud as an epidemic, with billions potentially overbilled to Medicare.
- Weak state licensing processes and inadequate oversight have enabled fraudulent providers to proliferate, with some agencies clustered unnaturally close together.
- The state's hospice industry is the largest in the nation, with a high percentage of for-profit companies.
- Medicare's trust fund is projected to deplete by 2033, partly due to increased expenditures on hospice and hospital services.
- The Biden administration's payment cuts to home health providers, intended to combat fraud, have been criticized for creating a "home health crisis" and harming legitimate agencies.
- Efforts to combat fraud include a "Fraud Tax Project" targeting tax evasion by hospice scammers and proposals for advanced fraud-detection tools like AI.
- California has implemented a statewide moratorium on new hospice licenses, though exceptions exist.
- Over 280 licenses have been revoked in the past two years, and more than 1,400 new home health agencies have enrolled in Medicare in Los Angeles County between 2019 and 2023.
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