A network of hundreds of hospices are under investigation for allegedly ripping tens of millions of dollars from taxpayers in Los Angeles Country and across California.<\/p>\n
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services<\/a> is now actively cutting off payments to suspicious operations across Los Angeles, which is home to almost half of America\u2019s end-of-life care providers.<\/p>\n Twelve hospice and home-health-care agencies are registered to operate from this San Fernando Valley building. Benjamin Brown for CA Post<\/p>\n A hospice industry insider provided the California Post with data detailing hundreds of suspicious hospices and home agencies across the state, including addresses where multiple agencies are listed at the same location.<\/p>\n A Post investigation found the addresses include empty storefronts, an auto parts shop and other offices that are unoccupied, some for years. Others don\u2019t appear to exist at all.<\/p>\n The investigation comes as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz confirmed<\/a> that \u201cevery single hospice in California is now under investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThirty to 40% of all the hospices in America are in Los Angeles, so there\u2019s just no way they are all legitimate,\u201d Dr. Oz said.<\/p>\n Dr. Oz confirmed Medicare payments were actively being \u201dcut off\u201d from suspicious clinics, forcing them to prove they are legitimate.<\/p>\n \u201cCMS has gone from a \u2018pay and chase\u2019 system of dealing with fraud to a \u2018stop and clot,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dr. Oz said sophisticated new fraud detection tools, including AI, are helping investigators flag suspicious clinics \u2014 often based on their size, patient volume and scope of operations.<\/p>\n One such center is St. Rita\u2019s Home Health, which is registered to a vacant Van Nuys strip mall.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe California Post is here. Sign up for Morning Report.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet the perfect blend of news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n St. Rita\u2019s Home Health has billed Medicare and Medicaid more than $4 million since 2021, despite the location saying it\u2019s for rent at a strip mall in Van Nuys. Benjamin Brown for CA Post<\/p>\n On the California Department of Public Health database, St. Rita\u2019s is listed as active at the Van Nuys location.<\/p>\n Despite being up for rent, the agency is still listed with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) as active, with data showing it billed Medicare about $4.3 million between 2019 and the first-half of 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n The agency has no website, and when The Post called to confirm it was still at 6360 Van Nuys Blvd., we were told the agency moved to Glendale and were provided a Yahoo email address to send questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n About six miles away in North Hollywood, another building is listed as the operating address for 12 hospice and home health agencies \u2014 despite a large \u201dfor rent\u201d sign hanging out front.<\/p>\n But in 2023 and 2024, more than $20 million was billed to taxpayers from the building. The Post contacted eight of the providers at the North Hollywood address.<\/p>\n A building in North Hollywood is operating 12 hospice and home-health-care agencies, but The Post did not see one sign there for any health care businesses. Benjamin Brown for CA Post<\/p>\n Pluto Home Health Care hung up when asked to confirm its location, Kaplan Hospice Care Inc, went to voicemail before being answered by \u201dAlexander from Southern California Auto.\u201d<\/p>\n A representative for Confident Home Health claimed they moved to a different location, despite the North Hollywood address being listed on the CDPH database.\u00a0When asked if the company has a website, the representative replied: \u201cI don\u2019t know \u2014 we have an email.\u201d<\/p>\n Queen of The Valley Home Health, which is still listed as active on CDPH\u2019s website, is located in Sun Valley, but when The Post visited the address, there was an auto store.\u00a0The agency billed nearly $600,000 between 2023 and 2024, according to CMS data. \u00a0<\/p>\n The address for Queen of the Valley Home Health is actually the location of an auto parts store. Benjamin Brown for CA Post<\/p>\n The license for Queen of the Valley Home Health is listed as active on CDPH\u2019s website, but the address is the location of an auto parts store.<\/p>\n While Dr. Oz said he couldn\u2019t comment on individual clinics, he said what The Post uncovered \u2018\u2019is exactly what we are looking at and what we are cracking down on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dWhy would you have three separate hospices in one building \u2014 wouldn\u2019t you have one? If they don\u2019t meet a set of criteria, we will cut off the funding; they will have to prove they are legitimate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dr. Ira Byock, one of the leading palliative care physicians in the country, told The Post the level of alleged fraud and the speed in which it had grown has \u201dcompletely overwhelmed\u201d state and federal authorities tasked with dealing with it.<\/p>\n Dr. Ira Byock, one of the leading palliative care physicians in the country, told The Post the state is facing a \u201ccrisis\u201d in hospice and home health care. Facebook\/Craig Dresang<\/p>\n \u201cThere are roughly 7,000 hospice programs across the US. There are 91 in Florida, 39 in New York \u2014 and over 2,800 in California,\u201d Dr. Byock said.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of them have come into existence in California in the last four years,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cclearly some of these programs in Southern California are not legitimate at all and seem like vehicles for fraudulent billing [of] Medicare<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Byock said the state is facing a \u201ccrisis\u201d in home health and hospice care that puts the most vulnerable patients at risk, and urged California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Department of Justice to crack down.<\/p>\n Sheila Clark, president and CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA), told The Post that \u201cit does not make sense\u201d for hospice and home health agencies to be listed at these locations.<\/p>\n Sheila Clark, president and CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA), said she has been sounding the alarm on fraud in the state since 2019. LinkedIn\/Sheila Clark CHAPCA<\/p>\n \u201cThey do not look like a licensed and certified home health or hospice,\u201d said Clark. \u201cThey don\u2019t have the right signage posted, they\u2019re in an odd location inside of a business that doesn\u2019t make sense \u2014 an auto body shop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Clark said she has been fighting to stop hospice and home health fraud in LA county since 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have been living with beneficiaries, with patients, families, senior Medicare patrol,\u201d Clark told The Post. \u201cI have been living this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The 2022 California Hospice and Licensure and Oversight report delivered a scathing review of rampant fraud in home health and hospice care, saying \u201cweak controls have created the opportunity for large-scale fraud and abuse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Post contacted the California Department of Public Health about the hospice and home health agencies in this article, including whether those locations have been inspected or are under review for potential fraud or violations.<\/p>\n The department confirmed all companies identified by the California Post were still licensed.<\/p>\n However, once they are inspected and receive certification, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services takes over inspections, they said.<\/p>\n \u201dThe CDPH may only conduct federal onsite investigations with approval by CMS.\u201d<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t
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