Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force has withheld $1.4 billion in federal funding from home health and hospice providers across the country due to fraud suspicions, confirmed in a statement from Vance’s office on Wednesday. This action follows earlier suspensions of providers in various states, including a significant operation based in Los Angeles County.
Officials revealed that around 90 percent of the suspended entities have not reached out to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services since their payments were halted. Many of these providers were long-term recipients of federal funds but failed to keep the necessary communication with regulators.
Last month, the task force curtailed operations of 447 hospices and 23 home health agencies specifically in the Los Angeles region. Estimates indicate that these organizations were responsible for more than $600 million in theft.
The suspensions were based on investigations that utilized data analytics, site inspections, and billing pattern reviews. Some providers have been labeled as “ghost” operations, with their physical locations appearing vacant or functioning from non-medical sites like retail stores.
Federal and state authorities have previously flagged Los Angeles County as a hotspot for hospice-related fraud, indicating a higher concentration of providers compared to the national average. A detailed CBS News analysis, supported by figures from the Department of Health and Human Services, revealed that about one-third of hospice facilities in the area exhibited typical signs of fraudulent behavior.
Within a mere 3-mile radius, nearly 500 hospices operate in Los Angeles, with 137 specifically on Van Nuys Boulevard. Over 50% of these businesses showed indicators of fraud upon inspection.
According to state auditors, “large clusters of providers in one location suggest that the supply may exceed the patient demand. This could lead to billing for services rendered to patients not actually in the area or who are ineligible for hospice services.”
Similar initiatives have been observed in Minnesota and other states, as part of ongoing enforcement steps against schemes like the “Feeding Our Future” case, which defrauded federal nutrition programs out of hundreds of millions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A spokesperson for Vance stated, “The vice president’s task force continues to block taxpayer funds from reaching fraudsters and is providing savings to the American public. This marks significant progress in fighting for the President’s War on Fraud.”
This task force’s efforts align with a larger review of Medicare and Medicaid programs by the administration. It has also led to referrals of suspected fraudulent loans from the Small Business Administration, exceeding $22.2 billion, largely from COVID-era initiatives.
In California, state authorities have recently made arrests in a separate Medi-Cal hospice scheme that allegedly generated $267 million in fraudulent claims. The federal actions encompass enhanced audits, employing data analytics to identify high-risk providers, and a nationwide six-month moratorium on new Medicare enrollments for certain home health and hospice agencies, aiming to prevent the infiltration of further fraudulent operators into these programs.
