Federal officials on Thursday arrested eight people they say were involved in various health care fraud schemes totaling $50 million in and around Los Angeles.
Five of the cases involved hospice-care centers in cities of Glendale, Artesia, Tarzana and Simi Valley in the Los Angeles area that allegedly billed Medicare for patients that were not terminally ill and did not qualify for hospice services, the US Attorney’s Office said. One person was arrested in Idaho and another in Los Angeles for allegedly defrauding a West Coast labor union’s health care plans. An additional person arrested in Los Angeles was accused of forging immigration medical documents.
The Trump administration has made California, and the Los Angeles area in particular, a focus of its national anti-fraud efforts, alleging the Democratic-led state is failing to crack down on improper spending.
First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli, a Trump appointee, called California the “kingdom of fraud” during a news conference announcing the charges.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the state has already aggressively cracked down on hospice fraud, noting that he signed a law in 2021 to stop providing new hospice licenses over fraud concerns. The office also said the state has revoked more than 280 hospice licenses in two years and 300 providers are under investigation.
Continue reading the complete article on the original source
