Washington — The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it will be enacting a six-month moratorium on new Medicare enrollments by hospice and home health agencies to target fraud.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, during the moratorium, “CMS will intensify targeted investigations, deploy advanced data analytics, and accelerate the removal of hospice and HHA providers from the Medicare program that are suspected of committing fraud.”
CMS says the pause will not impact current enrollments, and existing providers will be able to continue serving Medicare beneficiaries.
“We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “Today we’re shutting the door on fraud—preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them. This is about protecting patients, restoring integrity, and safeguarding taxpayer dollars.”
The announcement comes a day before Vice President JD Vance, who heads the White House’s anti-fraud task force, speaks in Bangor, Maine, about the administration’s efforts to combat fraud. Vance and Oz will hold a press conference Wednesday.
Nationwide, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General reported in 2023 that suspected hospice fraud amounts totaled an estimated $198.1 million.
The latest developments follow a CBS News investigation, based on state and federal data, that raised concerns about potentially fraudulent hospice companies and charges, notably in California, where an outsized number of companies offer hospice services.
The investigation found that over 700 of the roughly 1,800 hospices in LA County trigger multiple red flags for fraud as defined by the state.
In response to the CBS News reports, Oz announced in March an initiative to decertify any hospice providers that are found to be defrauding taxpayers by stealing the identities of people not in hospice or by overbilling for those who are dying.
In a social media post on Wednesday announcing the freeze on enrollments, the White House’s anti-fraud task force noted that states had to “fight fraud too.”
“States aren’t entitled to taxpayer money for fraudulent Medicaid services,” the task force said. “Americans shouldn’t have to pay fraudsters and states to waste your hard-earned money. This administration and the Fraud Task Force are fighting for accountability.”
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