House Republicans on the Oversight Committee launched an investigation into rampant hospice fraud in Los Angeles County, California, demanding documents from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on why the state failed to stop scammers defrauding Medicare out of tens of millions - potentially billions - in taxpayer money
CBS News investigation found over 700 of LA County's roughly 1,800 hospices triggered state-defined red flags, billing Medicare double the national average at $29,000 per patient versus $13,200, with one hospice charging a whopping $74,000 per patient
Fraudsters buy stolen Medicare numbers on the dark web, enroll healthy seniors without their knowledge, bill $260 per day per "patient," then vanish, leaving real dying patients without care and legitimate providers overwhelmed.
Hospice advocate Sheila Clark declared: "You can't throw a rock without hitting a hospice," highlighting 89 hospices crammed into a single LA office building—ground zero for the scam epidemic.
CBS correspondent Adam Yamaguchi explained: "Medicare hospice fraud can happen in a few different ways. Shell companies can buy stolen Medicare numbers on the dark web and then bill the government for the services that they don't ever actually provide."
Gov. Newsom's spokesperson claimed: "Under the governor's leadership, the state launched a multi-agency Hospice Fraud Task Force - more than 280 hospice licenses had been revoked in the last two years. Additionally, 300 more providers were under investigation."
The Oversight Committee letter blasted: "These indicators strongly suggest that a network or networks of individual perpetrators in Los Angeles County are engaging in a large and organized effort to defraud the Medicare and Medi-Cal hospice programs. Such fraud places at risk the extremely vulnerable population of hospice patients."
...
HVAC filters for a better price than
at big box or hardware stores.
Find the size you use here ...
...
This money is needed to print ballots AFTER ballot counting starts on election day.
ReplyDeleteNoticed a $3000 charge for medical products I don't need, by a doctor I've never met, in a city I've never been to, 2500 miles away. Called Medicare. They took all my information. 9 months later I noticed 3 more charges Medicare paid to same fraudster. Called Medicare again. "Oh my. Looks like we paid three more times." Talked to a person for half a minute or so, then was silently connected to a recording telling all about Medicare's commitment to stopping fraud.
ReplyDelete