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Americans who work hard and play by the rules should be outraged that mob-style schemes are preying on our most vulnerable citizens. Fox News senior correspondent William La Jeunesse laid bare how criminal operators in Los Angeles have been gaming the hospice system—signing up seniors for services they never needed and bilking Medicare while families stayed in the dark.
This isn’t isolated shoplifting of government funds; it’s organized, large-scale theft. In one case a Southern California defendant was sentenced after a scheme siphoned off more than $17 million from Medicare through sham hospice and home-health operations, and federal prosecutors have been hauling these fraudsters into court. The draconian sentences and multi-million dollar restitution orders show the scale of the betrayal and the heavy price of ripping off seniors and taxpayers.
The criminal networks didn’t operate alone; money launderers and shell accounts were part of the playbook. Federal prosecutors say a multi-year ring moved and concealed millions—more than $4.6 million laundered in connection with nearly $16 million in fraudulent hospice claims—using shell companies and false identities to keep the cash flowing. This was calculated, sophisticated theft, not some petty scam, and it required multiple agencies to unravel.
Federal grand juries and indictments have followed the money. Prosecutors in the Central District of California charged hospice owners in West Covina this past June for allegedly submitting roughly $4.8 million in false Medicare claims and paying kickbacks to procure patients, proving again that sham hospices and referral bribery are central to how these criminals operate. These arrests are a necessary first step toward cleaning up a rotten system.
Courts have also convicted marketers and operators who treated patient referrals like a commodity. A jury found defendants guilty in a scheme that funneled about $3.2 million in fraudulent claims involving kickbacks, and testimony revealed that some patients didn’t even know they had been signed up for hospice care. That’s a moral outrage: seniors deprived of needed services while fraudsters count monthly payoffs.
The scheme’s mechanics are disturbingly familiar—identity theft, fabricated charts, fake ownership, and sham certifications—allowing criminals to bill Medicare for services never rendered. Prosecutors detail how perpetrators used stolen or manufactured identities and fake paperwork to fake eligibility and billing, turning America’s healthcare safety net into a cash cow for crooks. This exposes not only criminal depravity but regulatory gaps that must be closed immediately.
Enough talk; it’s time for action. Tougher enforcement, stronger oversight of hospice licensing, and real accountability for anyone who helps traffic in Medicare fraud are nonpartisan necessities, and state leaders who prioritize politics over protection must be called out for enabling the environment where these crimes flourish. If California’s political class wants to be serious about protecting seniors, they should stop weaponizing rhetoric and start supporting prosecutors and law enforcement who are actually putting criminals behind bars.
