The California burrito hospice

 We’ve known for some time that Minnesota is one of America’s leading producers of fraud, costing taxpayers untold billions. But we’re now learning California is greatly surpassing Minnesota, and the hapless communist, Tampon Tim Walz, in the fraud sweepstakes.

But how can this be? Despite both states being ruled by Democrats, which means Islamist/Marxists these days, California’s population is much larger as is its budget. California’s immigrant population, barely legal and completely illegal, is substantially larger and more diverse than Minnesota’s. California is not limited to lavishing fraud on a single immigrant population like the Somalis. Minnesota’s legislature is not entirely infested with Democrats, certainly not to the degree of California’s, so California Democrats simply have far more need of allowing fraud for vote-buying, their campaigns and personal enrichment than Minnesota and far more opportunities. One might also reasonably argue that California politicians have a longer history of criminality than Minnesota’s, hence more experience at committing crimes and avoiding consequences.

We’ve heard of stunning levels of California hospice fraud for some time now. Hospice fraud? How does that work? Very easily and profitably, apparently. Thus far, Vice President JD Vance’s fraud taskforce has suspended federal funds to around 500 of California’s supposed hospice providers and more will doubtless be suspended soon.

In most, if not all, of these hospices, some 97% of patients did not die. That’s extraordinary and should have raised eyebrows on the state and federal levels because hospices are where terminally ill people go to die. State and federal eyebrows should have been raised because it is federal Medicare money parceled out to the states who are responsible for accrediting and auditing any organization receiving those funds.

This, from Shelia Clark, CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, who recently spoke before Congress about “ground zero” of Hospice fraud: Los Angeles.  It’s less surprising than one might imagine: 

You’d be amazed at how many hospices, the door you can walk up to in California and there is nobody there. There is five months worth of mail that you can see stacked up from CMS and nobody’s there. And that passed a survey. How did that happen?

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A burrito stand hospice?! A LA tire shop was also certified as a hospice and paid accordingly.

How can that possibly happen? Reportedly, many “hospices” had the same address and zero actual facilities. Either state and federal officials never visited that burrito stand or tire shop, or did and authorized them anyway. That’s gross incompetence or even malice, and evidence of probable kickbacks. Another indicator of the depth of systemic corruption involved is there have been no complaints at the closure of the 500 “hospices” thus far, which indicates they served—and serve—no one.

No wonder there are so many: the word surely got around, perhaps with the help of corrupt California bureaucrats and politicians, about how to strike it rich with an easy, low-risk scam. But the damage isn’t limited merely to money:

One longtime psychotherapist testified she was locked out of her own medical care for months because of a fraudulent enrollment already existing in her name.

Among those who testified was Dr. Lynn Ianni, who is a licensed psychotherapist with nearly 40 years of clinical experience. She told lawmakers that she was locked out of her own medical care for months after a fraudster falsely enrolled her in hospice care.

Imagine being told, in effect, that you are at the end of your life when you are not and then being denied access to care because of that error. It was not just frustrating. It was terrifying,” Ianni said.

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It appears once you’re somehow on the state/federal hospice roles, you’re dead whether you are or not and enter a Kafkaesque nightmare of red tape and bureaucracy. Just how bad is the fraud? This is the current, surely low, estimate for California alone:

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CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz estimates we lose $100 billion per year in social services fraud alone. Other estimates have the money looted from the Federal treasury at up to $2 trillion per year.

At PJ Media, Victoria Taft provides a partial California fraud list:

*High-speed train over-spending and under-delivering.

*Homeless billions gone missing.

*COVID unemployment billions going to state prisoners or Nigerian princes.

*Free spending for illegal alien trans surgeries quadrupling Medi-Cal (Medicaid) costs.

*Paying non-profits to riot.

*Laws forbidding voter ID.

*Spending other people's money for unfettered illegal immigration.

*Dispensing FireAid money to political friends.

*Fake day care centers with Maybach-driving owners.

*Hospice "companies" with no or living patients.

Were it not for the Trump Administration, none of this would have been exposed, and California politicians are working to make it illegal for journalists to expose fraud and other crimes.

What’s clear is a great many federal agencies like the defunct USAID and many state agencies are money laundering conduits for the Federal and state Democrat parties. Thanks to Donald Trump and an increasingly honest FBI and DOJ, they’re being exposed. It’s about time.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor. 

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/04/the_california_burrito_hospice.html