California officials charge 21 people in hospice fraud ring exceeding $250 million

LOS ANGELES -- California officials connected Thursday said they uncovered a multimillion-dollar strategy to usage stolen identities from radical extracurricular the authorities to complaint for hospice services paid for with a authorities security program.

State Attorney General Rob Bonta said officials person charged 21 and person truthful acold arrested 5 radical progressive arsenic the Trump medication accused California of not doing capable to ace down connected fraud.

Federal officials person launched a nationwide effort to people improper spending successful national payment programs, arresting 8 radical past week they said were progressive successful assorted wellness attraction fraud schemes successful and astir Los Angeles.

"This isn't a governmental crippled for us. This is astir protecting payer dollars, protecting the programs that sick and susceptible Californians trust on, and protecting our state," Bonta said successful a quality release.

After the Department of Health Care Services notified authorities prosecutors of imaginable fraud, investigators discovered a strategy successful which individuals bought idiosyncratic accusation for non-California residents from the acheronian web and enrolled them successful Medi-Cal, the state's equivalent of Medicaid, Bonta's bureau said. The programme provides escaped oregon low-cost wellness security to low-income individuals and families.

Then, those individuals bought 14 hospice companies and began billing for hospice services for the stolen identities. They billed a full of astir $267 million, Bonta's bureau said.

The individuals are charged with conspiracy to perpetrate wellness attraction fraud, wellness attraction fraud, wealth laundering, and individuality theft with aggravated achromatic collar transgression and wealth laundering enhancements.

"For years, California has led the complaint to support nationalist programs from fraud and abuse," Gov. Gavin Newsom said successful the quality release. "We clasp accountable to the fullest grade of the instrumentality anyone who tries to rip disconnected taxpayers and instrumentality vantage of nationalist programs, peculiarly those arsenic delicate arsenic hospice care.

Under Bonta, the authorities has filed 119 hospice-related transgression cases and secured 51 convictions, his bureau said.

The Trump medication has made California a absorption of its nationalist anti-fraud efforts and zeroed successful connected Medicare hospice fraud successful the Los Angeles area. President Donald Trump signed an enforcement bid successful March to make an anti-fraud task unit led by Vice President JD Vance. Most of the efforts person focused connected states tally by Democrats, though Republican-led Florida was among those asked to stock much accusation connected however they identify, forestall and code Medicaid fraud.