Gavin Newsom failed to guard California taxpayers from huge fraud, and now there’s a rising push for solutions and accountability after widespread fraud was uncovered within the state’s hospice trade, as outlined in a scathing new letter from CA’s Republican congressional delegation.
“The dimensions of those findings factors to systemic weaknesses which have allowed fraud to escalate, harming susceptible sufferers and taxpayers,” the letter, despatched Monday, and obtained completely by The California Publish reads.
On the middle of GOP lawmakers issues is the dearth of safeguards, and the obvious failure from the state to undertake emergency rules regardless of a mandate from the legislature to take action following a 2022 state audit report.
“They’re lifting the moratorium with out placing in new pointers, so we need to know why that’s and we’re asking some pointed questions on that,” Congressman Jay Obernolte informed The Publish.
Newsom issued a moratorium on hospice licenses following the audit, however the emergency rules supposed to strengthen oversight and rules that had been filed in December of 2025 had been withdrawn simply days later, in accordance with the letter.
Whereas the letter notes emergency rules appear to be actively adopted, they haven’t been formally re-submitted — as an alternative, the moratorium has been prolonged by means of 2027.
“Gavin Newsom has been asleep on the wheel and failed to guard California taxpayers from fraud on an enormous scale,” Congressman Ken Calvert stated. “We’d like California to get up and take motion to cease this fraud.”
A sentiment echoed by Congresswoman Younger Kim, who additionally signed the letter and referred to as out state management for “trying the opposite manner.”
“Whereas hardworking Californians are struggling to make ends meet, the hospice fraud enterprise appears to be booming,” she stated, including that “somebody has to carry Sacramento accountable, and that’s precisely what we’re doing.”
That is the second later in as many months, as Home Oversight Committee Chair James Comer introduced a probe into “rampant” hospice fraud in California again in March — calling out Newsom and the state for having a “well-documented historical past of fraud in its hospice applications” and estimated the full quantity at over $105 million.
The California GOP’s letter comes as hospice fraud has taken middle stage within the Trump administration’s mission to root out waste, fraud and abuse.
Earlier this month, a California Publish investigation revealed a community of suspicious docs who look like driving tens of tens of millions of questionable billing in California’s hospice system and led to Dr. Fariba Javaherian, a registered dermatologist, shedding her license to invoice Medicare together with 16 hospice amenities.
Javaherian was related to 63 hospice amenities throughout California both as a medical director, attending doctor or in another capability and appeared on greater than 6,000 claims that billed $35,816,331, in accordance with CMS billing information obtained by The Publish.
Federal authorities additionally launched a sequence of raids in April concentrating on folks accused of well being care fraud, ensuing within the arrests of eight folks together with three nurses, a chiropractor and a psychologist, who all face federal costs for allegedly scamming the nation’s well being care system of greater than $50 million.
“All of us have an curiosity in ensuring taxpayer {dollars} are properly and appropriately spent,” Obernolte stated. “Everybody loses once we permit fraudsters to take these {dollars} away from the people who find themselves legitimately entitled to them.”
