In a quiet stretch of Van Nuys Boulevard in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley, an unremarkable commercial building holds a staggering secret. According to state and federal records, 89 hospice companies are registered to this single address — a dilapidated structure that lacks basic accessibility features and shows few signs of medical activity. Of those 89 companies, 72 have multiple indicators that the state has identified as red flags for fraud.
This building is the epicenter of what federal investigators have called one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in American history. Across Los Angeles County, approximately 1,800 hospice agencies have sprouted — a 1,589% increase since 2010, far outpacing the 56% growth in the county’s elderly population. That’s more hospice providers than 36 states combined, and six times the national average relative to the senior population.
The scheme is devastatingly simple: fraudsters set up shell companies, recruit patients who aren’t terminally ill — often targeting vulnerable communities including the elderly, homeless, and non-English speakers — and bill Medicare $260 per day for services that are either unnecessary or never provided. The human cost extends far beyond dollars: legitimate patients in need of end-of-life care are caught in a system overwhelmed by fraud, and communities that should be protected are instead exploited.