The US government is intensifying efforts to combat fraud crimes. Federal officials revealed on Friday (9th) that California may have medical fraud on a scale of at least several billion dollars, potentially larger than the fraud case in Minnesota. Authorities stated that one focus of the investigation is the “illegal end-of-life care institutions” controlled by foreign forces.
“The scale of the problem is almost beyond our imagination and capabilities to control. Therefore, we will form a task force to handle this matter,” said Bill Essayli, Assistant US Attorney of the Central District of California, at a media briefing held in Los Angeles on Friday morning. “Compared to California, Minnesota’s problem is minor.”
Mehmet Oz, Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), cited Los Angeles County as an example, stating that 18% of the nationwide expenditures on end-of-life care and home healthcare come from the Los Angeles area. “The number of end-of-life care institutions in Los Angeles County has increased sevenfold, which is abnormal; however, the death toll in the county has not increased sevenfold compared to five years ago.”
He further disclosed, “In just one county in Los Angeles, the expenditures on end-of-life care and home healthcare amount to 3.5 billion dollars.” Various investigation figures are alarming.
“We believe that a significant amount of foreign forces, mainly led by criminal groups from Russia and Armenia, along with the mafia, are involved in these operations. They collaborate with doctors willing to deceive and lie… harming Americans,” Oz stated.
Oz revealed the operating methods of illegal end-of-life care institutions at the media briefing: Criminals often proactively call patients, falsely claim they have a serious illness, and persuade them to accept so-called treatments with statements like, “Our services can help you” or “Based on years of experience, you will eventually die of cancer.”
In reality, these patients do not die; most are unaware that they are signing end-of-life care agreements. Once they sign the agreement, patients are classified as end-of-life care patients, losing their right to receive standard medical care.
The premise of end-of-life care is that doctors predict the patient will pass away within six months. “On average, if a patient enters an end-of-life care institution, the probability of death within six months is approximately 90%; however, in these (illegal) institutions, a 0% death rate appears, and all patients seem to survive,” Oz indicated. Currently, about 100,000 people have provided their Medicare numbers to these institutions. Behind this are thousands of criminals and hundreds of unethical doctors collaborating in these scams, repeatedly falsifying patient conditions.
“Among the medical records I reviewed today, the first page actually had a physician swearing that the patient would die within six months. However, upon turning the page, the actual case only recorded high blood pressure and high cholesterol,” he said. Given such conditions, it is nearly impossible to predict reasonably that a patient will pass away within six months unless a major accident occurs.
Essayli announced that a federal task force has been established to investigate such cases. “Criminals will be arrested, prosecuted, and we hope they will face severe punishment.”
Officials stated that the federal government will also notify the California state government to collaborate in combating fraud. This newspaper writer reached out to the Governor’s Office but had not received a response by the deadline.
Dr. Oz also mentioned that the Trump administration is harshly cracking down on the use of taxpayer money for selective surgeries for illegal immigrants.
On the 6th of this month, US President Trump posted on the “Truth Social” platform, saying, “Under Governor Newsom, California is even more corrupt than Minnesota, can you believe it? The fraud investigation against California has officially begun. Thank you all for your attention to this case!”
The post at that time did not provide detailed specifics of the investigation. In response, Newsom’s spokesperson Tara Gallegos informed Epoch Times reporters via email that Trump’s accusations against Newsom were erroneous.