We're Not Wrong About LA Hospice Fraud and the Everglades
18 snips
Mar 11, 2026 They dig into a massive probe of hospice care in Los Angeles, spotlighting hundreds of providers with billing red flags. They debate whether Medicare structure and enforcement failures enable widespread abuse. Then they shift to Florida, where a bill could open land near the Everglades to development, weighing housing relief against flood and water risks.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Widespread Hospice Billing Red Flags In LA County
- LA County hospice billing shows systemic red flags like clustered addresses and overlapping staff that signal wide fraud risk.
- Reporters found ~700 of 1,800 providers with multiple warning signs, including one building listing 89 companies and average billing ~$29,000 per patient.
Hospice Fraud Is A Symptom Of Fragmented Healthcare
- Jen Briney frames the hospice problem as a symptom of a fragmented, middleman-heavy US healthcare system that enables waste and fraud.
- She argues federal funding funnels through many layers (federal→state→county→provider), creating policing gaps and high administrative overhead.
Federal Funding With State Enforcement Creates Perverse Incentives
- Andrew Heaton highlights a core incentive mismatch: federal funding with state enforcement encourages state actors to shift costs and weakens oversight.
- He compares similar distortions in disability benefits where states benefit from federal payouts shifting expenses off their books.