The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Republicans launched an investigation Monday into widespread fraud in California's hospice programs. Chairman James Comer and other GOP members sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, accusing his administration of failing to implement adequate oversight despite knowing about issues for at least four years.

The probe focuses on Southern California, particularly Los Angeles County, where hospice providers have surged 1,500 percent since 2010 to more than 2,800 statewide—over six times the national average relative to seniors. A 2022 California State Auditor report found providers overbilled Medicare by at least $105 million in one year, with average billing per patient at $29,000 compared to the national $13,200; some reached $74,000. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates $3.5 billion in fraud from Los Angeles County alone, representing 18 percent of all U.S. hospice billing.

Red flags include hundreds of providers sharing addresses, such as over 100 agencies at one Van Nuys site and 500 within a three-mile radius; low patient counts; patients discharged alive after terminal listings; excessive billing for unprovided services; and shared staff. Whistleblowers described schemes enrolling healthy seniors for kickbacks, trafficking patients between hospices, and lax licensing allowing foreign applicants. Previous reporting highlighted "ghost" hospices billing from empty storefronts, including one that took $4 million despite vacancy.

A CBS News analysis of Los Angeles County records found over 700 of 1,800 hospices showing multiple fraud indicators from the state audit. California Attorney General Rob Bonta last year called Los Angeles hospice fraud "an epidemic."

Newsom's office oversees programs through the Departments of Public Health, Health Care Services, and Social Services, which the letter says lack internal controls. The committee requested all related documents and communications since 2019 from these agencies and the Department of Justice's Medi-Cal Fraud unit that is due by April 6.

California defends its record, noting a 2021 moratorium on new licenses extended to 2027 and a multi-agency task force that revoked over 280 licenses in two years while investigating 300 more. The state has charged 109 individuals with hospice offenses since 2021 and arrested 284 defendants. Republicans likened the issues to prior probes of Minnesota fraud schemes.