\u201cThis is not a cause for concern,\u201d Dr. Tricia Neuman, executive director of the Medicare policy program and senior vice president at KFF, a nonpartisan health policy organization that conducts research, polling, and journalism, told CBS12 News<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe crackdown is related to fraud, and it is intended to stop organizations from signing up to be part of Medicare that may not be legitimate providers,\u201d Neuman said. \u201cThere are so many legitimate home health and hospice providers that are already available, and that will continue to be available to people who need those services.\u201d<\/p>\n WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 13: U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks alongside Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) during a press conference at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on May 13, 2026 in Washington, DC. Vance held the press conference to discuss the Trump administration’s anti-fraud initiatives. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The six-month moratorium, announced Wednesday during a White House press conference, temporarily blocks new hospice and home health care agencies from enrolling in Medicare reimbursement programs nationwide. Current providers and existing Medicare patients will still be allowed to continue receiving services. <\/p>\n \u201cToday, announcing a moratorium nationally,\u201d Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said Wednesday. \u201cThere will be no new hospices or home healthcare opened in this country. We\u2019re not taking away any services, but there will be no new ones, licenses granted until we can figure out a better way.\u201d<\/p>\n Federal officials say the action is part of a broader effort to crack down on fraudulent billing schemes involving stolen Medicare information, medically unnecessary treatments, and fake healthcare providers.<\/p>\n \u201cFraudsters have stolen your Medicare number and given you hospice you didn\u2019t want,\u201d Oz said. \u201cIf you get sick and go to the ER, you\u2019re not getting care.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida has one of the nation\u2019s largest Medicare populations and has historically been a major focus of federal healthcare fraud investigations because of its large senior population and heavy healthcare spending.<\/p>\n According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Brett Blackman, 42, and his co-conspirators aggressively targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to get them to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces and other items. They then arranged for purported telemedicine doctors to sign bogus prescription orders for these items, so that their co-conspirators could bill Medicare for them. (JUSTICE.GOV)<\/p>\n Just this week, federal prosecutors in Miami secured a conviction against the owner of a healthcare software company <\/a>accused in what the Department of Justice described as a more than $1 billion Medicare fraud conspiracy involving false doctors\u2019 orders for medically unnecessary equipment and products targeting seniors. <\/p>\n![\"WASHINGTON,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2f455363-8f23-4cc4-b5bd-380c7891c91f-GettyImages2276056430.jpg\"\/)
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