<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Hospice fraud in California has been remarkably brazen. Medicare recipients have been signed up for care without their knowledge by thieves who stole their identities. Providers have paid kickbacks to people to enroll even though they aren’t terminally ill and don’t qualify. Sham companies have fabricated lists of employees.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The schemes have been an irresistible political target for President Trump, who mentioned California as a top offender when he created a task force last month to root out corruption in federally funded programs. He said that he believed that fraud in the nation’s most populous state was “10 times worse” than anywhere else.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">But long before Mr. Trump weighed in, state investigators had uncovered rampant fraud in California’s hospice system on their own. For years, state and federal officials had been taking steps to combat abuses, and the state has stopped issuing new hospice licenses.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Despite the actions underway, Mr. Trump has made hospice fraud in California a new political flashpoint.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">In recent weeks, nearly every day has brought dueling announcements from Democrats and Republicans about busted Medicare abuse schemes or calls for legislative sessions to examine fraud in the state. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former talk show host who now runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has been an emissary of the Trump administration’s campaign against California, visiting the state and <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/us/newsom-oz-fraud-armenians.html" title="">posting videos</a> decrying health care fraud there. On Tuesday, a House committee held a special hearing on Medicare fraud with a focus on hospice abuse in California.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="ImageBlock-3"><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Image</span><div class="css-nwd8t8" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height:257.77777777777777px"></div></div></div><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Attorney General Rob Bonta of California announcing the dismantling of a major hospice fraud scheme that defrauded the state of $267 million.</span><span class="css-iwa86d e1z0qqy90"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div data-testid="Optimistic-4"><div class="css-kbghgg"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171d1bw"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" data-tpl="i" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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