How do you put a hospice in a taco stand or a tire store? That is the question being asked in a post by The Daily Signal on Sunday. Evidently the authorities in California were so lax in checking Medicare money handed out to supposed hospice facilities that some of them were located in very strange places.
The article reports:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has halted payments to more than 400 hospices in Los Angeles and across California, with the estimated fraud being greater than $600 million, according to the anti-fraud task forceopens in a new tab led by Vice President JD Vance.
Sheila Clark, CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, is questioning how these alleged instances of fraud have slipped through the cracks.
“How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand in California? How do you put a hospice in a tire store? That all had to be vetted through licensure, certification, and accreditation,” Clark said during a House of Representatives hearing on April 21.
The article concludes:
In an interview with Fox Newsopens in a new tab, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli called California “the kingdom of fraud.”
“Nobody is minding the shop. The money just goes out the door—no checking, no vetting. California has a responsibility to make sure the money is going to the intended recipients.”
On Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reported that $6,000 was being paid out by the government for hospice patients that allegedly did not exist.
We have not gotten one call from a congressperson or a patient. Why? Because those hospices did not exist. They were signing up patients … and charging us $6,000 a month for that patient.”
I am hoping that as we clear out the fraudulent spending by the government we can continue to decrease the tax burden on Americans.