Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force has suspended 70 hospice and home health care businesses in Los Angeles.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order this month establishing the task force to target all fraud.
Medicaid fraud came to light in November when Minnesota DHS whistleblowers accused Gov. Tim Walz of enabling widespread fraud.
One prosecutor believes Medicaid fraud could top $9 billion within 14 services in Minnesota.
But then investigations by CBS News and Nick Shirley revealed a fraud scheme in California involving hospices.
The task force uses an AI platform to identify potential fraud. From Fox News:
Vance’s task force is currently working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, run by Dr. Mehmet Oz, and last month, CMS identified and suspended 70 hospice and home health providers in Los Angeles after they were flagged as high risk fraudulent providers. The 70 hospice and home health providers had their funding paused in just one week after being identified by the task force and CMS, Fox News Digital is told.”As the task force to root out waste, fraud and abuse ramps up its work, we expect [the number of potentially fraudulent hospice and home health providers] to grow exponentially,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
Before the AI platform, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would “manually dis-enroll organizations suspected of fraud.”
Having CMS technologists deploy the AI platform across the country will identify the fraud faster.
“Vice President Vance looks forward to carrying out the President’s War on Fraud,” a Vance spokesperson told Fox News. “The American people deserve better than being ripped off by people who hate this country, and the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud will ensure that essential taxpayer-funded services are used to support the hard-working Americans who rely on them, instead of being used by fraudsters and criminals.”
The Senate also confirmed federal prosecutor Colin McDonald to lead the DOJ’s anti-fraud division.
McDonald becomes the first assistant attorney general to tackle fraud in America.
“Colin is an experienced, skilled, and tough prosecutor who will continue doing incredible work to root out fraud across America,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “President Trump made an outstanding choice.”
The House Oversight Committee also opened an investigation into the California fraud, claiming Gov. Gavin Newsom knew about the scheme for years.
“Despite these red flags, it appears California has enabled hospice providers to defraud the American taxpayer and exploit vulnerable patients,” the Republicans told Newsom.
The state auditor also raised the alarm that California had a 1,500% increase in hospices since 2010.
The number worried the auditor because California didn’t need more hospice agencies.
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