LA County directs health director to aid hospice fraud probe

The motion – which was approved Tuesday without discussion - directs the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to improve coordination between local, state and federal agencies that investigate and enforce fraud cases. The county is also calling on state and federal governments to strengthen oversight and enforcement.

Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger are behind the motion, which coincides with what they call a “rise in fraudulent practices by some providers, including billing for care that was not delivered and enrolling patients using stolen identities.” The supervisors add that fraud puts patients at risk and undermines the health care system’s integrity.

“Hospice and home health care are meant to protect and support some of our most vulnerable residents, making fraud in these sectors an especially serious breach of trust,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger told The Center Square Tuesday. “Los Angeles County cannot afford to let bad actors take advantage of gaps between local, state and federal oversight.”

Barger added that strengthening coordination and accountability across all levels of government is “essential to safeguarding the patients and families who rely on these vital services.”

Approximately 4,800 home health and hospice agencies are operating today in Los Angeles County.

On April 2, six of eight defendants charged with health care fraud appeared in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the defendants included three nurses, a chiropractor, and a psychologist who allegedly defrauded the health care system of more than $50 million through “sham hospice care facilities that bilked Medicare” by using people without terminal illnesses as beneficiaries.

In the DOJ’s press release, Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said Southern California is “a high-risk environment for hospice-related and many other forms of health care fraud.” Davis added that the United States loses billions of dollars every year to health care fraud. 

"Our aim is to reverse that trend," said Davis.