14 Arrested After 2 San Bernardino County Hospice Companies Accused Of Bilking Medicare, Medi-Cal Of $4.2 Million
RANCHO CUCAMONGA (CBSLA) — More than a dozen people have been arrested and charged in connection with a hospice scam accused of stealing $4.2 million from Medicare and Medi-Cal.
Fourteen people have been arrested and two defendants remain at large in connection with a scam involving New Hope Hospice Inc. and Sterling Hospice Care, Inc., both based in San Bernardino County, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday. The companies are accused of enrolling patients who were terminally ill into hospice care, many without knowledge or understanding of it involves.
"End-of-life care is a difficult process for families to endure, and patients should be able to trust that their hospice providers are acting in good faith," Bonta said in a statement.
When a patient is enrolled in hospice care, they give up their opportunity under the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs to receive treatments that could prolong their lives, such as chemotherapy for cancer patients, according to the Attorney General's Office. The two San Bernardino companies allegedly certified ineligible patients as terminally ill and tricked them into receiving hospice services, which would have made access to potentially lifesaving medical care difficult if any of them had needed it.
The investigation by the California Department of Justice, with help from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office and California EDD, found that between 2015 and 2021, the two companies' employees billed Medicare and Med-Cal for millions of dollars, fraudulently claiming that they were providing hospice care to patients who had less than six months to live, according to Bonta's office. Those implicated in the scam allegedly recruited ineligible patients for hospice care an paying them kickbacks, took patient identity information and used it to put them in hospice care without their knowledge, lied to patients about what services they would receive, and billed patients with one company, only to switch them to the other company to avoid detection.
"We allege these fourteen individuals conspired together to cheat and defraud the Medicare and Medi-Cal of more than $4.2 million," Bonta stated during a press conference Thursday.
Of the fourteen people who were arrested, two were doctors, three were nurses and four were business owners.
All of the people arrested in the case face multiple felony counts of conspiracy, insurance fraud, grand theft, fraudulent insurance claims. Others also face charges of identity theft, money laundering, and tax evasion.
"These actions are morally reprehensible," Bonta said.
The complaint also alleges that two of the individuals involved used over $130,000 of the stolen money to fund real estate deals in the Philippines, and a shopping spree at Hermes in New York.
All of the businesses attached to the alleged parties are no longer in operation.
"If you abuse your position of power, if you defraud taxpayers, if you harm the elderly, if you take advantage of those with disabilities, our message to you is: Stop," Bonta condcluded.
Over 30 of the individuals that were taken advantage of hailed from the Inland Empire, while many were denied medical attention that they actually needed, and some of which were completely healthy.
