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Dr. Mehmet Oz runs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency in charge of Medicare. And he says crooked hospice companies are still a big problem.
“We’ve made real progress over the past six months, but fraud in hospice and home health persists and our work isn’t finished,” Oz said Nov. 12 (1).
His agency’s answer: For six more months, it won’t let new hospice companies or home health agencies sign up to bill Medicare.
That freeze first took effect May 13, 2026. It doesn’t affect hospices and home health agencies already in Medicare. They can keep caring for patients, and patients can still get hospice care (1).
Why the crackdown? In one two-day operation in California in October, CMS says it kicked 145 providers out of Medicare, providers tied to more than $703 million in Medicare and Medicaid payments (1).
That’s taxpayer money. But I’m more worried about what hospice fraud can do to one patient: you, or your mom or dad.
Here’s the problem in plain English.
Hospice is “end-of-life care for people with illnesses that can’t be cured,” according to Medicare (2). To qualify, doctors must certify that a patient has “a life expectancy of 6 months or less” (2). The patient agrees to comfort care instead of treatment aimed at a cure.
So once someone is signed up for hospice, Medicare won’t pay for “treatment intended to cure your terminal illness and/or related conditions” (2). For someone who is truly dying and wants comfort, that’s the right trade.
Medicare does keep paying for care for health problems that aren’t part of the terminal illness, though the usual deductibles and coinsurance apply (2).
But some people get signed up for hospice care who aren’t dying. The FBI warned in June that scammers are enrolling Medicare patients in hospice “for services they do not need,” and that “Enrollment can also occur without the patient’s knowledge” (3).
When that happens, on paper the patient has chosen comfort care over a cure. A 2022 ProPublica guide, part of its series on hospice fraud, says unwitting recruits “have been denied kidney dialysis, mammograms, coverage for lifesaving medications” (4).
Here are five ways to protect your parents, and yourself.
1. Know exactly what a hospice signature gives up
Signing up for Medicare’s hospice benefit isn’t like signing up for a free service. It changes what Medicare will pay for.
After you choose hospice, Medicare won’t pay for treatment meant to cure the terminal illness or related conditions, or for prescription drugs meant to cure it (2). If a hospice patient needs a hospital stay for that illness, the hospice team has to arrange it (2).
So if anyone asks a parent who isn’t seriously ill to sign papers for “free” help at home, stop and read every word before anyone signs.
2. Guard the Medicare number like a credit card
The FBI says some scammers go door to door and “offer free home services such as house cleaning and meal delivery,” tied to using a specific hospice. Its advice is simple: never accept gift cards, money or services in return for hospice care(3).
Medicare’s own hospice booklet is blunt: “Don’t share your Medicare Number if someone offers you free services like housekeeping or cooking.” (5)
If you’re worried about how many places your personal information has already landed, an identity theft protection service such as LifeLock can watch for signs that it’s being misused and alert you.
It won’t stop a crooked hospice from billing Medicare. Reading your statements is how you catch that. But it adds a second set of eyes on your identity and accounts. See LifeLock's protection plans
3. Remember that even real hospice doesn’t pay the room-and-board bill
Honest hospice care is a blessing for families. But know what it leaves out.
Medicare’s hospice benefit doesn’t pay room and board if your loved one gets hospice care at home or lives in a nursing home or hospice inpatient facility. The exception is a short-term inpatient or respite stay the hospice team arranges (2).
More broadly, Medicare’s own site puts it bluntly: “Medicare doesn’t pay for long-term care” (6). That includes day-to-day help with things like dressing and bathing (6).
That’s the gap long-term care insurance is built to help fill, paying for services such as home care and assisted living.
Rates are typically lowest if you buy in your 50s or early 60s, so it’s worth pricing coverage for yourself before you need it. Compare long-term care insurance companies
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4. Read the Medicare statements that come in the mail
Fraud that happens on paper shows up on paper. If you have Original Medicare, you get a Medicare Summary Notice. “It’s not a bill,” Medicare says (7). It’s a list of the services billed to Medicare in your name.
The FBI tells Medicare patients to review “explanation of benefits statements and Medicare Summary Notices” for providers and services they don’t recognize (3).
ProPublica’s guide lists red flags to look for, including a statement showing you were billed for services you didn’t receive or for a higher level of care than was needed (4).
If you help a parent with the mail, make this a habit. A hospice charge from a company nobody in the family has heard of is a five-alarm fire.
5. Check out any hospice, and know you can walk away
If a doctor recommends hospice, check out the company first. The FBI says to look up a hospice’s ratings on Medicare’s comparison site, now called Care Compare, and to avoid providers with low star ratings (3).
And if something feels wrong, you’re not locked in. “You always have the right to stop hospice care at any time,” Medicare’s booklet says (5).
To report suspected fraud, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) (5). The Senior Medicare Patrol also takes reports, toll-free at 877-808-2468 (8). The FBI takes reports at ic3.gov (3).
My take
Hospice is one of the kindest things Medicare pays for. It can let people spend their final weeks at home, kept comfortable, with family around them.
That’s exactly why this fraud makes me so angry. The crooks aren’t just stealing tax dollars. They’re putting a label on people that can cut them off from treatment they need, from dialysis to lifesaving medications.
The defense isn’t complicated. Don’t trade a Medicare number for a free mop and a hot meal. Read the statements that come in the mail. And if a stranger at the door is suddenly very interested in your mother’s health, close the door and call her doctor.
Sources: 1. CMS; 2. Medicare.gov; 3. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center; 4. ProPublica; 5. Medicare.gov (Medicare Hospice Benefits booklet); 6. Medicare.gov; 7. Medicare.gov; 8. Senior Medicare Patrol Resource Center
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