As federal and state agencies investigate allegedly fraudulent practices within the home care and hospice industry in California, Los Angeles County will join in these investigations, in efforts to root out illegal practices that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
In a motion passed unanimously by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 7, the county’s Department of Public Health will better coordinate with the ongoing investigations, helping uncover and enforce fraud cases. A report on how DPH will help will come back to the board in about two months.
In addition, the board voted to send a letter to the director of the California Department of Public Health and the administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, urging better coordination between the array of regulatory agencies and greater investment into enforcement of potentially fraudulent home health and hospice providers.
“Hospice and home health care exist to serve our most vulnerable residents, so fraud in these industries is a profound betrayal of their trust,” said Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, a co-author of the motion with Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “Los Angeles County cannot stand by while unscrupulous individuals exploit any gaps between local, state and federal oversight.”
In Los Angeles County alone, there are more than 4,700 home health and hospice agencies currently operating, and the numbers have been growing in the last few years, the county reported. Of those, 1,623 are hospice agencies.
The motion explained that these businesses have been concentrated in Glendale and Burbank, but recently the county has seen an increase in hospice companies in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles.
Hospice services have been the target of investigations in California and other states by the FBI and the State Department of Justice.
A CBS News investigation in March highlighted Los Angeles as “ground zero” for hospice fraud and found that more than 700 hospices had “multiple red flags for fraud” under criteria outlined in a state audit released in 2022. In the five-county Southern California region, the number of hospices climbed from 722 in 2018 to 1,799 in 2024. The counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura account for nearly a quarter of the hospices in the country.
Since the audit, California instituted a moratorium on new hospice licenses, revoked more than 280 licenses since the audit and charged 109 individuals with hospice-related offenses. Another 300 providers are actively under investigation.
But investigators say those already licensed are often ripe for fraud.
The fraud investigation over suspected hospice fraud put a Van Nuys office building into the national spotlight after records found 89 hospices registered there. Clustering of multiple hospices in a single building was flagged by state auditors as a potential indicator of fraud.
Records show about 40 hospices registered to 14545 Friar St. in Van Nuys billed Medicare for more than $38 million — or about $28,000 per patient — in 2023, according to the most recently available data from CMS.
On April 2, federal authorities announced the arrests of eight people, including three nurses and a psychologist, and charges against seven others for allegedly participating in fraudulent schemes originating in Southern California that siphoned more than $50 million from the national health care system.
Authorities carried out raids and arrests in Anaheim, Covina, Lakewood, Hollywood and Idaho as part of the federal enforcement operation.
The board motion states some hospice provider operators have “engaged in unscrupulous practices such as documenting care that was not provided and enrolling patients under stolen identities.”
A husband and wife in Covina used fake hospice billings to cover mortgage and car payments, international flights, and other personal bills. Twenty-two of their patients did not have terminal illnesses, said federal investigators during the April 2 press conference.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, as seen on Dec. 10, 2025. (image courtesy of Board of Supervisors)
“Los Angeles County is doing our part and will not allow bad actors to exploit gaps in oversight while patients and families are put at risk. Stronger coordination and accountability across every level of government is essential to protect people and restore trust in these critical services,” said Horvath.
About 60 percent of the home health and hospice agencies operating in L.A. County have approved federal status, the board motion states. This allows them to be surveyed by private accrediting firms, rather than the federal CMS.
The motion wants the federal CMS to investigate complaints about these “deemed providers.” That way, if fraud is confirmed, the federal government can take over investigations and enforcement efforts.
“We must work toward stronger coordination and accountability at every level of government to protect the patients and families who depend on these critical services,” said Barger.
Southern California News Group Staff Writer Jason Henry contributed to this article.