Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency Kim Johnson announces the dismantling of a major hospice fraud scheme that defrauded the state of $267 million during a news conference in Los Angeles Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) Every day, millions of Americans rely on care delivered in the home. They trust that these critical services, whether a home health nurse helping a patient recover safely after hospitalization, or a hospice team providing comfort and dignity to a senior and their family at the end of life, are upholding the values that define this uniquely personal care.
These skilled services are essential to patients and families across the country. Home health and hospice providers meet people where they are — both physically and through wraparound support — caring for them in their homes at the end of life or during critical healing and recovery periods when trust is paramount.
That is why fraud in Medicare home health and hospice programs is so damaging. Fraudulent operators do not simply steal taxpayer dollars; they harm real people, exploit vulnerable individuals, undermine legitimate providers, and erode confidence in critical healthcare services that families depend on every day.
Combatting fraud, waste and abuse in healthcare must remain a national priority. That is why I am glad to partner with the National Alliance for Care at Home on the Protecting Seniors and Stopping Fraudsters Act, designed to strengthen program integrity in home health and hospice while protecting access to care for patients who depend on these services, and reducing burden for legitimate providers.
For years, warning signs about hospice fraud were hiding in plain sight. Legitimate providers, families and policymakers repeatedly raised concerns that gaps in oversight were allowing bad actors to exploit vulnerable patients and siphon taxpayer dollars from the Medicare program. Those concerns were brought directly to federal regulators and highlighted during Ways and Means Committee hearings long before the issue reached the national spotlight.
But while fraud has rightfully drawn increased attention, it is important to recognize that the majority of hospice providers deliver compassionate, high-quality care every day. This legislation reflects that reality by taking a targeted, data-driven approach to cracking down on fraud while preserving access to care for seniors and families.
This legislation advances a balanced approach by giving Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services practical and commonsense tools to strengthen oversight and accountability. These include measures such as penalizing providers that fail to submit required quality data and requiring site visits for providers with questionable billing patterns, suspicious metrics, or other indicators of potential fraud. This translates to care teams that patients and families can trust in their homes and with their health.
We are strengthening the role and accountability of accrediting organizations to help ensure fraudulent operators cannot gain access to Medicare in the first place. Preventing bad actors from entering the system is just as important as removing them once identified.
We applaud the leadership that of Dr. Mehmet Oz and appreciate his agency’s partnership in advancing smarter oversight strategies for Medicare and Medicaid, focusing on enforcement where it is most needed.
Providers, regulators and lawmakers should share the same goal: ensuring patients receive safe, high-quality care from trustworthy providers while safeguarding taxpayer resources. This legislation represents an important step toward achieving that goal. We encourage members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to support this effort to strengthen oversight, protect patients and preserve trust in care delivered at home.
Program integrity and patient access are not competing priorities. In fact, protecting the integrity of Medicare is essential to protecting access for the patients and families who genuinely depend on these services.
Representative Beth Van Duyne represents the 24th District of Texas and is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Jennifer Sheets is the CEO of the National Alliance for Care at Home.
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