"They buy the numbers from people and tell them, 'Give me your Medicare beneficiary number and I will give you something in return.'"
minute read
Independent journalist Nick Shirley, who rose to prominence after exposing fraud taking place in Minnesota, has released a new video report about the level of fraud in California, and has said that he and his team were able to uncover over $170 million in fraud taking place in the state related to home health care, daycares, and other services that get government subsidies.
"Minnesota was big but California is even bigger... We uncovered over $170,000,000 in fraud as these fraudsters live in luxury with no consequences. Like it and share it, the fraud must STOP," Shirley posted to X with the video.
"We ALL work way too hard and pay too much in taxes for this to be happening. These fraudsters have been able to defraud American taxpayers for years without any pushback from the public and politicians," he added. "It is time to EXPOSE IT ALL and end America's fraud crisis."
Shirley showed that the amount of spending using Medi-Cal, the state's version of Medicaid, has doubled since 2022 and that there has been a 1,000 percent increase in hospice care in Los Angeles in recent years. He cited the figure that one in every $10 that goes towards home healthcare in the US is spent in LA County.
Shirley and his team first went around to several daycares, some of them being run by the Somali population. In multiple instances, there were no children present, or the number of children at the facility was far less than the number registered on government records. One daycare that they visited has state records that indicated that every time inspectors showed up, no children were present.
At one daycare, there were children outside, but there was no adult apparently present at the building. Shirley, while he visited the various locations, would pull up records of government funding for the locations.
At one plaza that Shirley visited, there were dozens of home hospice centers. When he would knock on the door at the location during business hours, nobody came to answer the door in multiple instances. One man they spoke with at the plaza, who claimed his hospice care business was legitimate, tried to get Shirley to leave. In many instances, the hospice centers' parking lots had many luxury vehicles, such as Mercedes, Teslas, and others.
Shirley also spoke to someone in the healthcare industry in California who was familiar with what has been going on. "I think it's become a trend of fraud, honestly," the woman in the video said. "I heard about this about five years ago during Covid, where people were building hospices and selling them. It was like a business these people made. So, it's an easy way to bill Medicare with people's beneficiary numbers that people can easily steal."
“They buy the numbers from people and tell them, 'Give me your Medicare beneficiary number and I will give you something in return,’" she added, and said that it was more beneficial than stealing a credit card. She added that "anybody can get a hospice license" and that you don't need to be a doctor in order to set up a hospice center.
Several people who were working at the hospice centers avoided questions and deflected when Shirley asked if they had patients or did anything for their work.
The video from Shirley has racked up over 7 million views on X. After it went viral on Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom's Press Office went after Shirley, posting an AI-generated photo of Shirley asking about where the children were at in a daycare.
Newsom's press office was quickly slammed and ratioed by Shirley, who said, "You do realize I’m trying to help America eliminate fraud and waste right? No need to try and make me look like the bad guy for exposing fraud. People are over it. Start working for the people and not against them."
Other reporting has verified that LA has been a hotspot for fraud taking place in the hospice industry. Additionally, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Mehmet Oz, has said that 18 percent of the entire US home health care billing comes from Los Angeles County.
"Minnesota was big but California is even bigger... We uncovered over $170,000,000 in fraud as these fraudsters live in luxury with no consequences. Like it and share it, the fraud must STOP," Shirley posted to X with the video.
"We ALL work way too hard and pay too much in taxes for this to be happening. These fraudsters have been able to defraud American taxpayers for years without any pushback from the public and politicians," he added. "It is time to EXPOSE IT ALL and end America's fraud crisis."
Shirley showed that the amount of spending using Medi-Cal, the state's version of Medicaid, has doubled since 2022 and that there has been a 1,000 percent increase in hospice care in Los Angeles in recent years. He cited the figure that one in every $10 that goes towards home healthcare in the US is spent in LA County.
Shirley and his team first went around to several daycares, some of them being run by the Somali population. In multiple instances, there were no children present, or the number of children at the facility was far less than the number registered on government records. One daycare that they visited has state records that indicated that every time inspectors showed up, no children were present.
At one daycare, there were children outside, but there was no adult apparently present at the building. Shirley, while he visited the various locations, would pull up records of government funding for the locations.
At one plaza that Shirley visited, there were dozens of home hospice centers. When he would knock on the door at the location during business hours, nobody came to answer the door in multiple instances. One man they spoke with at the plaza, who claimed his hospice care business was legitimate, tried to get Shirley to leave. In many instances, the hospice centers' parking lots had many luxury vehicles, such as Mercedes, Teslas, and others.
Shirley also spoke to someone in the healthcare industry in California who was familiar with what has been going on. "I think it's become a trend of fraud, honestly," the woman in the video said. "I heard about this about five years ago during Covid, where people were building hospices and selling them. It was like a business these people made. So, it's an easy way to bill Medicare with people's beneficiary numbers that people can easily steal."
“They buy the numbers from people and tell them, 'Give me your Medicare beneficiary number and I will give you something in return,’" she added, and said that it was more beneficial than stealing a credit card. She added that "anybody can get a hospice license" and that you don't need to be a doctor in order to set up a hospice center.
Several people who were working at the hospice centers avoided questions and deflected when Shirley asked if they had patients or did anything for their work.
The video from Shirley has racked up over 7 million views on X. After it went viral on Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom's Press Office went after Shirley, posting an AI-generated photo of Shirley asking about where the children were at in a daycare.
Newsom's press office was quickly slammed and ratioed by Shirley, who said, "You do realize I’m trying to help America eliminate fraud and waste right? No need to try and make me look like the bad guy for exposing fraud. People are over it. Start working for the people and not against them."
Other reporting has verified that LA has been a hotspot for fraud taking place in the hospice industry. Additionally, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Mehmet Oz, has said that 18 percent of the entire US home health care billing comes from Los Angeles County.
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