A federal anti-fraud task force has suspended 447 hospices and 23 home health agencies due to suspected malfeasance totaling an estimated $600 million in the Los Angeles area.
The suspensions were facilitated by a federal anti-fraud task force led by Vice President J.D. Vance. The White House established the task force in March, which in addition to Vance includes the participation of 10 federal agencies, including the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Labor, among others.
Providers in California lauded the suspensions.
“We welcome today’s action to hold fraudulent hospice and home health agencies accountable that have exploited seniors and their families, under the guise of helping them, for far too long,” Sheila Clark, CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, said in a statement. “In California, scammers exploit Medicare and Medi-Cal benefits by deceptively and illegally enrolling seniors in hospice and skilled home health programs they never consented to. Every dollar stolen from hospice and skilled home health is a dollar of care not provided to Medicare patients who need it.”
Widespread hospice fraud has been documented in several states. Some providers have enrolled patients who did not qualify for hospice care or did so without the patients’ knowledge or consent. Others have transferred patients between hospice organizations in exchange for payments, participated in “license flipping,” and offered illegal kickbacks for referrals, among other violations.
In some instances, multiple hospices have been operating out of the same address without a corresponding increase in the population of eligible patients. Some individuals also hold management positions at several of these hospices simultaneously.
“No one is immune to these scams, and more work still needs to be done,” Clark said. “We urge sustained commitment from federal and state partners to protect and support patients and their families, along with the dedicated nurses, spiritual bereavement counselors, aides, social workers, physicians, and others who make genuine hospice and home health care possible.”
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