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Fraud Stopped on the Terminally Corrupt California Hospice Hustle · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

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  Speaker 1: The total fraud estimated at more than six hundred million dollars.
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  Speaker 2: So far, operations skip Trace uncovered and ended a hospice
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  Speaker 2: fraud scheme that defrauded medical of two hundred and sixty
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  Speaker 2: seven million dollars.
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  Speaker 3: No employees or patients yet, look at the dozens of
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  Speaker 3: providers licensed.
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  Speaker 4: And this one address.
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  Speaker 5: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
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  Speaker 4: Good Thursday morning.
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  Speaker 6: Nice have you with us on the forty seven Morning Update,
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  Speaker 6: and we've got a bombshell of a story for you.
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  Speaker 6: The Vice Presidence Task Force has now suspended over four
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  Speaker 6: hundred California hospice businesses for alledged fraud. And apparently that's
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  Speaker 6: just the tip of the iceberg. So how much money
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  Speaker 6: was it costing you as a taxpayer? The number will
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  Speaker 6: shock you. But before we get to that, I want
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  Speaker 6: to take a moment and ask you to help the
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  Speaker 6: people in Israel. With my friends at the IFCJ working
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  Speaker 6: right now on the ground for all those in need.
• 0:56
  Speaker 6: I want to take a moment and talk to you
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  Speaker 6: about a man named Phineas who has a child, survived
• 1:02
  Speaker 6: the Holocaust. Phineas survived because Christians hid him from the
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  Speaker 6: Nazis risking everything to save his life. Today, he is
• 1:12
  Speaker 6: in his eighties, he can no longer stand on his
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  Speaker 6: own or leave his home to receive medical care, and
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  Speaker 6: when the siren sounds and the missiles fall, he doesn't
• 1:21
  Speaker 6: have time or the strength to reach safety. But once again,
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  Speaker 6: Christians are helping save his life. Through the International Fellowship
• 1:30
  Speaker 6: of Christians and Jews, a mobile clinic brings doctors and
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  Speaker 6: medicine right inside of his home, providing care he wouldn't receive,
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  Speaker 6: especially in wartime. Christians saved my life during the Holocaust,
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  Speaker 6: he said, and now again they're helping me. So as
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  Speaker 6: Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, we honor survivors like Phineas,
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  Speaker 6: not just with words, but with action. Give forty five
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  Speaker 6: dollars right now and you can rush life saving a
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  Speaker 6: cent to the vulnerable in Israel under fire. Eight a
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  Speaker 6: eight four eight eight IFCJ. That's eight eight eight four
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  Speaker 6: eight eight if CJ, or go online to IFCJ dot org.
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  Speaker 6: That's if CJ dot org. It's the forty seven Morning
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  Speaker 6: Update and it starts right now.
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  Speaker 4: Story number one. So you may.
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  Speaker 6: Remember a story that we talked about on this show
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  Speaker 6: and that was the fraud that is being exposed with
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  Speaker 6: hospice care centers in California. Well, once the White House
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  Speaker 6: knew about this, they didn't just talk about it. They
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  Speaker 6: went into full court press to make sure that those
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  Speaker 6: that were defrauding American taxpayers were stopped once and for all.
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  Speaker 6: That is why they decided to have a new anti
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  Speaker 6: fraud task force. And they didn't just put some random
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  Speaker 6: person in charge of it. No, the President said it
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  Speaker 6: was going to be led by the Vice President JD.
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  Speaker 4: Vance.
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  Speaker 6: Well, now we've got quick results. Over four hundred I'm
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  Speaker 6: going to say that number again, over four hundred hospice
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  Speaker 6: and nearly two dozen home health agencies in California are
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  Speaker 6: having their payment suspended due to troubling findings, with the
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  Speaker 6: White House issuing a grave warning to suspected fraudsters. Since
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  Speaker 6: the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud was launched just on
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  Speaker 6: March to sixteenth, JD. Vance his team have hit the
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  Speaker 6: ground running to root out where the American taxpayers are
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  Speaker 6: being ripped off by bad actors. On March to twenty fifth,
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  Speaker 6: just nine days after they launched this, a source familiar
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  Speaker 6: with the matter has now said that the task Force
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  Speaker 6: and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services had identified
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  Speaker 6: and suspended already at that point. In just nine days,
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  Speaker 6: seventy Los Angeles based hospice and home health businesses that
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  Speaker 6: showed red flags of being well fraudulent. As of Wednesday,
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  Speaker 6: that number has skyrocketed to four hundred and forty seven
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  Speaker 6: hospice businesses and twenty three home health agencies around the
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  Speaker 6: state have been cut off because of alleged fraud, with
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  Speaker 6: the total of those suspensions being valued at more than
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  Speaker 6: six hundred million dollars of your tax money. The numbers
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  Speaker 6: obtained by Fox News illustrate just how deep the corruption
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  Speaker 6: runs in California and other Democratic run states, where healthcare
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  Speaker 6: services have taken taxpayer money with little to no oversight.
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  Speaker 6: And this is likely what we're being told, just the
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  Speaker 6: tip of the iceberg. Where there is fraud, the task
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  Speaker 6: Force will find it. That is what a Vanced spokesperson said, continuing,
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  Speaker 6: we will not stop until every hard earned taxpayer dollar
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  Speaker 6: goes towards the honest Americans who deserve them. The shocking
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  Speaker 6: discoveries in California come after Vance's and the CMS administrator,
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  Speaker 6: Doctor Oz had a February announcement of plans to block
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  Speaker 6: two hundred and fifty nine million in Medicaid funds that
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  Speaker 6: were headed to Minnesota. That is the side of the
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  Speaker 6: highly publicized fraud schemes that Governor Waltz and the Attorney
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  Speaker 6: General Keith Ellison allowed to wreak havoc on the entire state.
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  Speaker 6: A White House official echoed the statement from Vance's office
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  Speaker 6: and indicated that the task force will continue to track
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  Speaker 6: down alleged perpetrators of such scams. To all the fraudsters,
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  Speaker 6: good luck trying to hide from the Vice President's Task Force.
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  Speaker 6: They're reviewing and pursuing every possible lead, the White House
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  Speaker 6: said in a statement, continuing, these suspension numbers and the
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  Speaker 6: dollar value saved are going to increase. The FBI, by
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  Speaker 6: the way, has raided the home of a psychologist and
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  Speaker 6: nurse for an alleged hospice fraud scheme, according to CBS News,
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  Speaker 6: and this is just one example of what we're dealing with.
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  Speaker 6: Gladwin and gil were arrested for allegedly fraudulently billing Medicare
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  Speaker 6: for more than seven point four to five million. The
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  Speaker 6: pair was running a hospice with a survival rate of
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  Speaker 6: over ninety seven percent.
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  Speaker 4: I wish I was joking.
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  Speaker 6: According to a CBS analysis, seven hundred of the one thousand,
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  Speaker 6: eight hundred hospices in Los Angeles County alone triggered.
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  Speaker 4: Multiple red flags for fraud. Quote.
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  Speaker 6: We are enforcing a zero tolerance policy for criminals who
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  Speaker 6: defraud American taxpayers, is what the first assistant the United
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  Speaker 6: States Attorney had to say, saying, the defendants arrested this
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  Speaker 6: morning who are charged with stealing millions of dollars of
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  Speaker 6: health care benefits, got caught and now face.
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  Speaker 4: Years in prison. And it's official. JD.
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  Speaker 6: Vance is saying, it's not just in Los Angeles, not
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  Speaker 6: just in California. They're going to be looking all over
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  Speaker 6: the place for this type of fraud. Another example of
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  Speaker 6: what they're finding is the California ag announcing a major
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  Speaker 6: hospice fraud bust in La County, alleging at the scheme
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  Speaker 6: defrauded medical of more than two hundred and seventy six
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  Speaker 6: million dollars. Why is he doing the investigation? Because JD.
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  Speaker 6: Vance and the President are not backing down. We're here
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  Speaker 6: today to.
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  Speaker 2: Announce the results of a massive hospice fraud bust in
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  Speaker 2: Los Angeles County, and it's called Operations skip Trace. Operation
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  Speaker 2: skip Trace uncovered and ended a hospice fraud scheme that
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  Speaker 2: defrauded medical of two hundred and sixty seven million dollars. So,
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  Speaker 2: just to be clear, at quarter billion dollars over funds
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  Speaker 2: that are paid for by California taxpayers, funds that are
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  Speaker 2: meant to provide care to Californians in need. It is unacceptable,
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  Speaker 2: it is illegal, and we will not stand for it.
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  Speaker 6: As Nick Shirley, who helped expose a lot of this
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  Speaker 6: fraud in California, said, this is how hospice fraud works.
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  Speaker 6: It's really simple. You get a small office in LA,
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  Speaker 6: you collect Medicare beneficiary numbers, You enroll people into hospice
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  Speaker 6: and build a government for millions of dollars. You get
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  Speaker 6: caught or become suspicious, you pack up and walk away
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  Speaker 6: with millions. This is exactly why the President and the
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  Speaker 6: Vice President are doing what they're doing now to try
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  Speaker 6: to stop all of this. As Fox News describe it,
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  Speaker 6: here's how they summed up simply what the President has
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  Speaker 6: done in thirty seconds.
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  Speaker 1: The Anti Fraud Task Force, led by Vice President jd Vance,
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  Speaker 1: has suspended four hundred and forty seven hospices and twenty
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  Speaker 1: three home health agencies suspected of fraud right here in
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  Speaker 1: Los Angeles. The total fraud estimated at more than six
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  Speaker 1: hundred million dollars so far. We talked about that recently
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  Speaker 1: with the CMS administrator, doctor memot Oz. The number of
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  Speaker 1: suspensions is roughly a five hundred and thirty nine percent
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  Speaker 1: increase from the seventy reported by Fox News Digital at
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of April.
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  Speaker 6: Now, one of the byproducts of all of this fraud
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  Speaker 6: and just how big it is and how many millions
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  Speaker 6: and then billions of dollars have been stolen from taxpayers,
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  Speaker 6: is the fact that the media is actually now being
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  Speaker 6: forced to cover this. Even the CBS Evening News gave
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  Speaker 6: an entire one minute and forty six seconds to tell
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  Speaker 6: America about this, maybe for the first time they've heard
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  Speaker 6: about it.
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  Speaker 7: Update tonight, in our CBS News investigation into hospice fraud
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  Speaker 7: in southern California, our team was the first to report
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  Speaker 7: charges filed against more than twenty suspects in what's described
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  Speaker 7: as a two hundred and sixty seven million dollar fraud
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  Speaker 7: case with zero legitimate patients. Here's CBS News correspondent Adam
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  Speaker 7: i Amagucci.
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  Speaker 8: CBS News obtained exclusive body camera footage showing California Department
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  Speaker 8: of Justice officers rating ten homes and offices in a
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  Speaker 8: crackdown of suspected hospice fraud. State Attorney General Rob Bonta
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  Speaker 8: says they've charged twenty one suspects.
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  Speaker 9: Well, address fraud is us doing the hard work, heads down, sleeves,
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  Speaker 9: rolled up, doing the investigation, doing the arrests, doing the prosecutions.
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  Speaker 8: Here's how Bonta describes the alleged scheme. The suspects purchased
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  Speaker 8: personal information from the dark web, used it to enroll
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  Speaker 8: in California's state run Medicaid program, then used fourteen hospice
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  Speaker 8: companies to build the government for this phantom care, all of.
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  Speaker 4: It coming from taxpayers.
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  Speaker 9: There were no actual services, no hospice centers.
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  Speaker 8: For months, CBS News has been uncovering signs of potential
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  Speaker 8: hospice fraud. We found one doctor's name on claims from
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  Speaker 8: one hundred and twenty six hospices. He wouldn't speak with
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  Speaker 8: US Medicare chief doctor memit Owz announced on social media.
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  Speaker 8: They revoked that doctor's ability to build a system. It's
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  Speaker 8: become a political flashpoint, with Democrats and Republicans trading blame
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  Speaker 8: even as state and federal officials try to work together.
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  Speaker 1: It is a challenging time between some states like California
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  Speaker 1: and our federal partners.
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  Speaker 4: We remain committed to partnership.
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  Speaker 8: CBS News has learned those officials are now working through
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  Speaker 8: three hundred open investigations in California. Adam i Amacucci CBS
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  Speaker 8: News Los.
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  Speaker 6: Angeles, more than three hundred investigations. And the fraud is
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  Speaker 6: so bad that even CBS Evening News is like, all right,
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  Speaker 6: we'll get in on this. The story's just too good
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  Speaker 6: for us to not talk about. Even Fox News Channel
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  Speaker 6: the side of one hundred plus hospice agencies which all
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  Speaker 6: happen to be in literally one building.
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  Speaker 4: Listen to this.
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  Speaker 10: The building looks like that supposedly houses one hundred and
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  Speaker 10: ninety seven different hospice and healthcare companies.
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  Speaker 3: That's California lawmaker Ali Mercedo, investigating suspected hospice fraud in.
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  Speaker 10: La I did not see a single person coming in
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  Speaker 10: or out of the building.
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  Speaker 3: Neither did we in January.
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  Speaker 9: Lots of offices, but no people.
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  Speaker 3: Three floors, no employees or patients, Yet look at the
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  Speaker 3: dozens of providers licensed at this one address. Five years ago,
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  Speaker 3: state auditors flagged this location for potential fraud. They say
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  Speaker 3: they found non working phones, locked doors, and stolen Medicare numbers.
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  Speaker 3: In La County, California, eighty nine hospice companies are registered
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  Speaker 3: to a single address. Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill say
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  Speaker 3: California's week oversight help perpetuate fraud. A charged Democratic Governor
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  Speaker 3: Gavin Newsom denies.
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  Speaker 8: We've been very aggressive as it relates to going after
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  Speaker 8: the fraud and abuse.
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  Speaker 3: He also says hospice fraud involving Medicare falls under federal jurisdiction.
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  Speaker 4: That's misleading.
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  Speaker 3: State lawe says California is responsible for licensing, inspecting, and
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  Speaker 3: investigating hospice complaints, and can deny, suspend, or evoke licenses.
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  Speaker 10: This problem is on his hands, and he's refusing to
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  Speaker 10: put in rules and regulations.
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  Speaker 3: That lawmakers mandated take effect by January this year, including
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  Speaker 3: better background checks, a ban on multiple hospices sharing a
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  Speaker 3: single office, more comprehensive on site inspections, and face to
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  Speaker 3: face meetings before awarding a license. We asked you some
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  Speaker 3: why his administration missed the deadline.
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  Speaker 4: We've prelimited over two hundred and eighty licenses. We've been
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  Speaker 4: on this since late twenty twenty one.
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  Speaker 3: So what he governor does not say is the sweeping
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  Speaker 3: reforms that auditors want have largely not been imposed. And
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  Speaker 3: La County still has fifteen hundred more hospices Dana than
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  Speaker 3: New York and Florida combined, including five hundred and three
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  Speaker 3: mile rates. Makes no sense, and they're billing medicare double
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  Speaker 3: the national average.
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  Speaker 4: There it is the real story.
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  Speaker 6: This is number one, the tip of the iceberg and
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  Speaker 6: number two costing you billions of dollars. And the President
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  Speaker 6: United States of America has said to the Vice President,
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  Speaker 6: you're in charge, Go find the fraud, go after the fraudsters,
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  Speaker 6: and make sure that American tax hours are not being
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  Speaker 6: wasted and sent out of the country by illegal immigrants,
• 14:24
  Speaker 6: for example in Minnesota as well.
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  Speaker 5: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: and we will see you back here.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: Tomorrow,