Apr 9, 2026
A few crooked California health care workers have allegedly been milking Medicare out of millions. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Central District of California, the schemes tied to these eight individuals tried to siphon off over $50 million (1) from federal health care programs.
Although there are nuances to each case, most followed a similar playbook: Get people to pretend they were terminally ill in hospice and bill the government for unnecessary medical services.
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Thanks to coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, all eight of these defendants are in custody and awaiting their trials.
One of the largest single cases involved a Covina couple — the "purported psychologist" Gladwin Gill and registered nurse Amelou Gill — who operated the 626 Hospice Inc. in Glendale.
Allegedly, the Gills sent Medicare $5.2 million in fraudulent claims for hospice services they never needed or provided. In total, the U.S. Attorney's Office claims the Gills received $4 million, which they used for various personal expenses ranging from fine dining to car payments.
In the wake of these allegations, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who now leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is planning a thorough review of hospice care throughout the Golden State.
As ABC-7 Los Angeles (2) reported, Dr. Oz said, "We're going to review every single hospice in California to make sure that they're all appropriate, and we hope to do that expeditiously. We'll do it this year."
Just how bad is fraud in health care?
When discussing these Southern California cases, the FBI's Akil Davis made it clear they're part of a worrying trend rather than isolated incidents. In a statement (3), Davis claimed: "The United States loses hundreds of billions of dollars annually to healthcare fraud at the expense of all American taxpayers, whose benefits decrease as premiums, co-payments, and taxes grow."
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Recent findings from a CBS News investigation (4) show that these health care fraud cases are particularly common in California, where LA County now has 1,800 licensed hospices (about six times the national average considering its senior population). This report showed that 42% of hospice care centers in LA County continued to operate even with clear warning signs of fraud.
One glaring red flag is that some buildings in LA County have registrations from multiple health care companies. For instance, CBS investigators noted that one Van Nuys building had 89 of these registrations, suggesting that fraudsters are using it as a shell hospice company to funnel their funds.
But this isn't just a California issue.
Looking at the national picture, the CMS (5) reports that Medicare had $28.83 billion in improper payments, while Medicaid added another $37.39 billion in 2025. While not all of these payments are necessarily tied to fraud, the Medicaid Fraud Control Units (6) shows there were 1,185 convictions in 2025 that recovered nearly $2 billion through criminal and civil cases.
The Department of Health and Human Services (7) also reported that its "2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown" campaign arrested 324 defendants (including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists) with combined losses of over $14.6 billion.
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How health care fraud could cost you
For everyday taxpayers, this spike in health care fraud cases can take a toll on your wallet.
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The FBI (8) explicitly says health care fraud can raise both your premiums and taxes, with the North Carolina Department of Insurance (9) estimating that fraud can increase premiums by as much as 20%.
Besides the financial impact, the FBI also points out that identity theft is becoming a greater issue as fraudsters try to steal health insurance information and use it in their schemes.
To avoid getting caught in this trap, FBI agents recommend being extra skeptical of any health services billed as "free" or offering incentives in exchange for your insurance information. They also urge everyone to get in the habit of reviewing their explanation of benefits (EOB) and double-checking that all your data lines up with actual services.
If something isn't matching up or you're worried about potential fraud, start by reaching out to your insurer directly or to Medicare's official fraud line at 1-800-MEDICARE (10) (1-800-633-4227). The FBI also has its Internet Crime Complaint Center, where you can submit a report on ic3.gov (11).
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
U.S. Department of Justice (1); ABC-7 Los Angeles (2); Internal Revenue Service (3); CBS News (4); Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (5); HHS Office of Inspector General (6, 7); Federal Bureau of Investigation (8); North Carolina Department of Insurance (9); Medicare (10); IC3 (11)
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Eric Esposito is a freelance contributor on MoneyWise with an interest in financial markets, investing, and trading. In addition to MoneyWise, Eric’s work can be found on financial publications such as WallStreetZen and CoinDesk. When not researching the latest stock market trends, Eric enjoys biking, walking his dog, and spending time with family in Central Florida. Eric holds a BA in English from Quinnipiac University.
