Ghost hospices: how state neglect enables federal fraud
CBS News found one Los Angeles office plaza tied in state records to 89 licensed hospice companies.
That’s an immediate red flag.
Credit to CBS News for covering the story about the rampant fraud embedded within our healthcare and Medicare/Medicaid system. American taxpayers are getting bilked and cheated by opportunists who operate with little effort to conceal what they are doing. Some are billing at more than two-and-a-half times the rate of legitimate organizations.
There has been a great deal of social media reaction to this specific story, especially in light of the rampant fraud uncovered in Minnesota childcare centers. But one of the most important questions raised here is about the lack of state oversight. That concern is even more pressing when agencies have already issued reports highlighting fraud or the potential for fraud. It shouldn’t be a big surprise to many of the lawmakers and prosecutors in states. Generally speaking, they are reporting on a lot of the fraud before any investigative journalist.
The Paragon Health Institute notes that between 2015 – 2024, there was over $1 trillion in improper payments to Medicaid. A reading of the entire report is beyond depressing.
States are supposed to license providers, track them, and investigate obvious warning signs. The CBS News article includes assurances from the California attorney general that authorities are on the case, but it is fair to wonder whether enough is being done given the sheer scale of the fraud being uncovered.
That may not be the headline takeaway from the CBS report, but it exposes a deeper failure in California’s oversight efforts. When state responsibility breaks down, “ghost hospices” can multiply on paper while federal Medicare dollars keep flowing out the door.
The obvious solution is to get much more aggressive on prosecutions and prison given the pervasive nature of this flourishing criminal enterprise. The Trump administration seems to be making some headway with that but many states are lagging far behind.
— The Federalism Beat