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Posted on 05/10/2026 4:07:27 AM PDT by DFG
One of the state’s leading hospice care providers told Texas legislators that Medicare fraud is rampant across the Lone Star State, with rogue operators billing Medicare for millions in Taxpayer dollars. Testimony revealed that patients are being enrolled into hospice without their knowledge, and at least one provider has as many as 15 hospices operating in a single building, with the same owner.
Hospice Brazos Valley President and CEO Lisa McNair recently testified before the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services and said that the number of registered hospices in Texas has nearly doubled in the last six years. She said there are now more than 1,300 facilities that are licensed to provide comfort to patients in their final days of life, KBTX reported. She told the local news outlet that fraudulent Medicare claims are draining taxpayer dollars and eroding trust in legitimate end-of–life care.
McNair investigated the alleged fraud and found that one owner claimed to operate 15 hospices in a single building. She said that a single 10-patient hospice can generate $60,000 per month in Medicare billing.
“Take 10 patients, multiply that times 15 hospices working under one building, under one owner, and you can do the math. That’s many millions of dollars that’s being frauded from the government,” McNair told reporter Nicole Marino.
She added that some “patients” are not even aware they had been enrolled in hospice care services. The facility simply submits fraudulent bills under the patient’s name.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
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Should not Congress at a minimum partially be responsible for these Medicare/Medicaid frauds with little or no oversight? This is how we have $40 trillion of debt of which there is no return.
She added that some “patients” are not even aware they had been enrolled in hospice care services.
And where do they get these names and information? Oh yeah...all our medical records are on line for anyone with the remotest tangential interest to see and use, HIPPA be damned.
And our “politicians” just sit and listen to testimony and do absolutely NOTHING.
We are screwed because we allow this to happen.
1. Stop ALL payments to all providers and give them 30days to prove their status and claims.
2. Spot check individual enrollees and verify they are indeed enrolled and are real.
When fraud/lying/wrong doing is discovered, issue warrants for arrest and immediately cancel the organization. Make them reapply. Yes, its chaotic but I don’t care.
Do this for every gov’t program like SNAP, day care learing centers, etc. MAYBE we can stop some of this crap.
Congress constantly wring hands about SS & Medicare as $100’s of billions go out the back door.
As long as Ms. McNair can stay safe and healthy over the next few years, she should be the recipient of a tidy sum of recovered money for her apparent qui tam lawsuit.
This and medicare fraud, facilitated/foisted so increasingly on us as a result of our government forcing dei employment in the medical field .
Obammma humm hummm hummmm,,,
Could not have done it without the run out of business unaffordable health care act that filled the front offices with rows of checkerinners. On the job training.
A kiosk for fraud just like mail in voting is to the mail box.
This tells you that they, the government Fed, State and Local, is not pay attention at all.
If they are interested in stopping fraud at all, and I don't think the Democrats are, this is a a good use for AI.
AI should be able to review reports and records and identify fraudulent billing quickly.
So called ‘online’ sign ups are everywhere. No accountability.
Our credit union claims we signed up online for credit monitoring. Total lie. Now theyve triggered rate adjustment on cards we dont even have thru them.
Excellent point, problem is you can’t trust government from the states on up to the feds. But the IRS can take your money rather efficiently.
The 15-plus entities are described as “shell operations” or “rogue operators” designed to bypass regulatory reporting requirements by keeping patient counts low per entity, allowing fraudsters them to avoid reporting quality data.
The specific names of these 15 Texas-based hospice companies were not publicly released in the initial news reports regarding the testimony.
A separate, high-profile case in Van Nuys, California, recently involved 89 hospices in one building. Instances of 15 hospices registered in a single suite by CA fraudsters. (more below)
This new testimony highlights that a similar “stacking” of hospice companies is now actively occurring in Texas to siphon Medicare funds.
The Van Nuys, California, hospice fraud is a massive, multi-year, and ongoing healthcare scandal, described as an “epidemic” centered in the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles area.
Federal and state investigations have identified a “kingdom of fraud” involving hundreds of millions of dollars in false billings to Medicare and Medi-Cal, often characterized by phony hospice companies, stolen identities, and the exploitation of healthy individuals.
An office building in Van Nuys (often referred to as the Morabi Professional Medical Plaza) became notorious for listing nearly 90–150 plus “licensed hospice agencies”..... far exceeding the buildings physical capacity.
<><>Many of these were “shell” companies with no staff, dead phone lines, or a paper sign on a door.
<><> Fraudsters bought or stole personal information from the dark web,
<><>they enrolled unsuspecting, healthy people,
<><>then billed Medicare/Medi-Cal for services never provided.
<><>As of April 2026, Ca AG Rob Bonta dismantled $267 million in fraudulent claims,
<><>21 suspects are charged.
<><>kickbacks were paid to doctors to falsely certify phantom patients as “terminally ill.”
<><>This resulted in several suspects arrested
<><>the seizure of over $757,000 in cash, along with firearms.
<><>The US House Oversight Committee launched a probe, wrt reports of “rampant fraud”.
Perpetrators often signed up patients who were not terminally ill, or in many cases, knew nothing about their enrollment. Investigators found cases where a single doctor’s name was listed on thousands of claims across over 100 different hospices. Some “hospices” reported high patient numbers but near-zero mortality, which is a red flag for hospice care, as patients receiving Medicaid are required to have six months or less to live.
California implemented a moratorium on new hospice licenses in 2021 to stop the surge of fraudulent operators, with reports indicating over 60% of applicants in the area were denied. Many victims only learned they were listed as “dying” when seeking care for other illnesses, with one woman discovering her benefits were hijacked while trying to seek physical therapy.
The investigation is ongoing, with officials continuing to work through hundreds of open cases related to this specific fraudulent network.
Saw Dr. Oz with VP Vance on a discussion where Oz claimed it’s easier to set some of these fake entities up than it is to start a bank account. They are going after them and used Minnesota as an example and said it’s just the tip of the iceberg and a starting point....most of them use Medicaid and the gov’t reimburses states - but now they plan on holding off on the reimbursements until some ‘boxes are checked’ to be sure the charges are valid.
Kambiz Merabi, the owner of the plaza, told CBS News that Medicare officials visited his building two years ago to look at hospice agencies. He told the outlet that, in his view, the businesses appear to be "legitimate."
The Van Nuys Morabi Professional Medical Plaza became notorious for listing nearly 90–150 plus “licensed hospice agencies”..... far exceeding the buildings physical capacity. CBS News noted that several of the hospice companies registered to Merabi Professional Medical Plaza had been billing Medicare "for years."
Kambiz Merabi, the owner of the plaza, told CBS News that Medicare officials visited his building two years ago to look at hospice agencies. He told the outlet that, in his view, the businesses appear to be legitimate........Huh? Is Merabi that stupid? While government records show dozens of providers at the building, Merabi told CBS News that "his records show" just 12 hospice companies operating at the Van Nuys address.
Morabi's several Instagram videos seems to invite fraudster rentals, saying he specializes in "virtual offices".......meaning renters can pay to use his building just as their address. However, hospices are required by federal law to have a physical office.
The revelations about the Merabi Professional Medical Plaza come amid the Trump administration’s renewed focus on fraud.
That dude has a very punchable face.
Bingo
YES.
The lack of oversight and review is astounding. These huge amounts of taxpayer dollars and accessing them is basically done through the honor system. The only hurdle is some minor paperwork. It seems like a quaint holdover from our formerly high trust society. Such a system probably could have worked in the Minneapolis or Van Nuys of 1970 but maybe not so much now.
Kambiz Merabi is of Persian Jewish ethnicity.
Born in Tehran, Iran, on January 21, 1959, he grew up in a close Persian Jewish family before moving to the United States in 1979.
He has extensively expounded on his family background and how the family is deeply rooted in Jewish heritage, and religious practices.
Born in Tehran, Persia (Iran).He is a well-known Los Angeles-based commercial real estate developer, CEO of the Merabi Organization Group (MOG), and was formerly a male model.
Meanwhile, California is trying to stop whistle blowers such as Nick Shirley:
“’Stop Nick Shirley Act,’ Mia Bonta stressed the legislation aims to protect workers of immigrant service organizations, not silence journalists.”
It is designed precisely to silence Nick Shirley:
From X:
“Nick Shirley says it’s getting harder to investigate fraud for a number of reasons
- He’s become very recognizable to fraudsters because of social media
- Fraudsters are on high alert right now because of his reporting
- Fraudsters are covering up the fraud
- some fraudsters are taking what they’ve stolen and leaving America
Impact
- The Federal Government shut down over 500 hospices in California. Not a single hospice has said, ‘hey, open our hospice back up.’
- In Minnesota, they froze $250 million of payments for childcare. Not a single daycare sent a single receipt
- They just raided 22 daycares and other welfare programs. Not a single mother complained about her child not being able to go to a daycare.
The real problem is none of the politicians who have let it happen have been held accountable. Not a single one”
I work at a Texas hospital and Medicare watches our every move. So what’s the story wth their not watching the every move of other certain facilities.
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