California Probes Billions in Fraudulent Medical Expenses

California is now investigating a staggering amount of fraudulent medical spending, specifically targeting illegal hospice operations run by foreign nationals, as officials revealed in a press conference on Friday.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, stated during the briefing, “There has been a seven-fold increase in hospice cases in Los Angeles County. That kind of spike doesn’t just happen by chance.” He went on to clarify, “The death rate in L.A. County hasn’t increased seven times over the past five years. This indicates fraud, often linked to foreign influences like Russian and Armenian gangs, along with the mafia, who are behind many of these facilities.”

Oz also expressed concern over how these scammers collaborate with about “100 bad doctors” to convince terminally ill patients to join hospice care, noting that approximately 100,000 individuals have provided their Medicare details.

U.S. Attorney Bill Esseri commented on the situation, saying, “We’re concerned that what’s happening in California may be worse than what we’ve seen in Minnesota, where the fraud we suspect pales in comparison.”

In response, California Governor Gavin Newsom refuted the claims on social media, asserting that he has “prevented over $125 billion in fraud, apprehended criminals draining taxpayer resources, and safeguarded taxpayers from the same types of fraudsters praised by President Trump.”

These allegations surfaced just after the Trump administration announced the creation of a new attorney general position aimed at tackling fraud more effectively.