NOTE TO STUDENTS: Before answering the questions, read the “Background” and watch the videos under “Resources.”

1. What is hospice (who uses it/for what purpose is it used?)

2. How much has hospice grown in the last five years in Los Angeles County? - How much of this is estimated to be fraud?

3. a) How did Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta describe the hospice fraud in the greater Los Angeles area?
b) What do the fraudsters do?

4. a) According to a whistleblower, what two allowances are given to hospice owners that enable them to more easily commit fraud?
b) Do you think federal and every state should immediately end these allowances? Explain your answer.

5. a) How does the hospice fraud work?
b) What specific harm does this fraud cause to the seniors it deceptively signs up for hospice?

6. List the following statistics provided in the article or in the 1st news report (video) under "Resources":
a) Number of hospice agencies in the Van Nuys neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County
b) The number of state licenses for hospice companies in one commercial building in Van Nuys
c) the number of hospice agencies in LA County compared to 36 other states combined
d) the number of hospice agencies in LA County compared to either Florida or New York. Why is this discrepancy significant?
e) the percent of home healthcare billing nationwide that is coming from Los Angeles County
f) Amount of government funding (taxpayer dollars) one doctor received in one year; and the number of patients he claimed to have overseen in that year

7. a) When was Medicare fraud by an Armenian international organized crime ring first discovered in the U.S.?
b) Why do you think this fraud is still so massive in California?

8. Following Dr. Oz's revelation on the ongoing fraud, in which he stated, "These are Russian, Armenian gangs, mafia that are leading a lot of these efforts...," California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a civil rights complaint against Dr. Oz for "unfairly targeting the Armenian community."
In his Fox News report, William La Jeunesse noted,
"The governor's own auditor, state and federal prosecutors say Armenian-American organized crime is behind much of the fraud here and in 2022 auditors told the governor that weak state controls, a lack of guardrails and poor licensing created the situation causing the state to put a moratorium on new hospices and since then they have revoked about 280 licenses."
a) How would you describe Gov. Newsom's civil rights complaint against Dr. Oz? - sincere, helpful, self-serving, disingenuous, pandering... Explain your answer.
b) Gov. Newsom has been in office for over 7 years. Four years ago, auditors told the governor that the state's policies had created the situation in which such widespread fraud was able to take place. Part of a governor's job is to oversee state agencies. Should this fraud have been eliminated by now? Explain your answer.

9. Virtually all states require regular inspections of food-handling businesses (restaurants, grocery stores, food trucks, etc.) by state or local health department inspectors to enforce food safety codes.
If a state is going to give taxpayer dollars to a government program, it should insure there is no fraud.
a) For any state program that pays for services for people, what type of oversight should be required?
b) Do you think a state should ensure regular inspections are done for any social services programs that receive taxpayer dollars to fund the programs? Explain your answer.