Every state with rampant social programs also has prevalent fraud. California has become an utter drain on the federal tax system. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz revealed that California, Los Angeles County in particular, now accounts for 18% of all US Medicare home health and hospice billing to the tune of $3.5 billion annually. That equated to 2.5% of the population consuming 18% of healthcare funds.
There are over 2,000 hospice agencies in Los Angeles County—red flag. That means Los Angeles has more hospice agencies than 36 states COMBINED. Florida was once touted as “America’s waiting room” due to the aging population, but Los Angeles has 30X more hospice agencies than the entire state of Florida AND California.
LA County is the nationwide hotspot for Medicare fraud, but investigators have only scratched the surface. Over 100 hospices are registered under the same addresses. One doctor claimed to treat 1,900 patients in a single year, and received a $120 million check from the government. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has had LA-based home health agencies (HHA) and hospice agencies on their radar for years. State auditors in California estimated that hospice agencies in Los Angeles County overbilled Medicare by $105 million in 2019. By 2022, 31% of all US hospice agencies were based in Los Angeles County, and yet, the county only hosted 1.49 million seniors. CMS noted an improper payment error rate of 7.7% ($1.2 billion) in 2023, with hospice fraud costing the American taxpayer $198.1 million in FY2023…