Dr. Oz warns foreign nationals may be tied to US hospice fraud, points to LA as hotspot

Networks of foreign nationals may be linked to U.S. hospice fraud, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz warned Wednesday in a FOX Business special, pointing to one major city as a key area of concern.

"You have to ask yourself exactly how many people are actually dying in Los Angeles," Oz told host David Asman.

"[There are] almost 2,000 hospices in LA County. We believe half of them could be fraudulent, and the reason for this is because Los Angeles and the state of California, who regulates these hospices, was tolerant."

Oz continued, accusing state and local regulators of being "perfectly fine" with the issue. He then suggested who could be responsible.

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"We believe that many of them are created by the Russian mafia. In fact, when you try to bust these folks, sometimes foreign nationals run back to their own country," he shared.

Such accusations have drawn ire from California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office. 

Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon fired back in a statement to Fox News Digital earlier this month, writing, "While MAGA bloggers and idiots like Dr. Oz may have just discovered hospice fraud, California has been cracking down in this space for years."

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"In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law banning ALL new hospice licenses. That moratorium is still in place, blocking bad actors from entering the system while the state tightens oversight of existing providers," Gardon continued.

"Under the governor's leadership, the state launched a multi-agency Hospice Fraud Task Force bringing together CDPH, CalHHS, DHCS, DSS and the California Department of Justice to make arrests, share intelligence, investigate fraud and coordinate enforcement."

Gardon noted that more than 280 hospice licenses had been revoked in the last two years. Additionally, the Newsom spokesperson said 300 more providers were under investigation for potential revocation.

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State officials have noted that their own investigations resulted in 109 criminal charges and 24 civil fraud cases since California Attorney General Rob Bonta assumed office, according to FOX 11 in Los Angeles.

Newsom additionally filed a civil rights complaint against Oz for claims made against Armenian communities in the Golden State earlier this year, alleging Oz had "spewed baseless and racially charged allegations" that could potentially discourage the use of hospice and home care programs.

The legal tussle stems from a video in which Oz visited Los Angeles' Van Nuys neighborhood, calling out a nearby four-block radius that he claimed was home to 42 hospices, suggesting potential fraud at the hands of what he described as the "Russian Armenian mafia."

But Oz says the fraud issue is not isolated to California.

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"In Flushing, [New York], I just mentioned we think the Chinese government might be involved. In southern Florida, where you have twice as many durable medical equipment suppliers as McDonald's, we think the Cuban government's involved," he told Asman.

Fraud concerns have become a growing focus for the Trump administration, following high-profile cases in states like Minnesota, which have prompted broader conversations about the use of taxpayer dollars and government accountability.

Fox News Digital's Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.