Health‑Care Fraud and Enforcement

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced charges against 21 people and the arrests of five in "Operation Skip Trace," alleging a $267 million Medi-Cal hospice fraud in which suspects bought non-California residents' personal data on the dark web, enrolled them in Medi-Cal, purchased 14 licensed hospice companies and submitted bills for hospice care that was never provided at largely paper-only facilities. Authorities released body-cam footage of residential raids and say the case is part of a broader statewide crackdown—investigators are probing hundreds of hospices for potential revocations as state officials, while defending California's enforcement record, and federal anti-fraud teams escalate scrutiny.