CBS: Hospice Care ‘Ripe for Fraud, Especially in California,’ They Had Hundreds with ‘Multiple’ Red Flags

On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CBS Evening News,” CBS National Correspondent Adam Yamaguchi reported on hospice fraud and said there is “an industry ripe for fraud, especially in California” that is “costing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.” He also stated that there are hundreds of hospice licenses in the state with “multiple signs of potential fraud” by the state’s own criteria for what constitutes red flags for potential fraud.

Yamaguchi spoke to a woman who said she was fraudulently enrolled in hospice care and was without coverage as a result.

He also said, “A CBS News investigation found an industry ripe for fraud, especially in California, companies accused of overbilling, real patients denied care, and it’s costing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.”

Yamaguchi added, “CBS News analyzed every hospice licensed in L.A. County — more than 1,700 — and checked for the same warning signs the state used in an audit of the industry, like multiple hospices packed into one building or caregivers whose patients — supposedly at death’s door — are discharged alive.” And said that “more than 700 agencies” had “multiple signs of potential fraud” and one that had “all six” of the state’s red flags for potential fraud.

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