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As allegations of patient fraud mount in California, Republican Assembly candidate Jenny Rae Le Roux is calling out state leaders, accusing them of failing to act as oversight gaps have allowed the issue to fester.
“Every dollar was diverted from the State of California to these actual practice facilities, and all the oversight that was lacking – which was 100% of it – fell on the State of California. So even though the federal government had to step in and do Gavin Newsom’s job to follow this up, this is a California problem,” Le Roux told Fox News Digital.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office has dismissed allegations that the governor has not taken action to combat the issue, saying the federal government is responsible for law enforcement.
“TRUTH: The government has no role in the Medicare billing or payment process. We’re glad the Trump Admin is taking action against fraud. Now, if Trump would stop pardoning the fraudsters—and those involved—that would be great!,” Newsom press office wrote in X in response to a CBS report on hospice fraud in California.
THE VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE HAS SERVED 221 CALIFORNIA HOSPITATION AND HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS TO DATE.
Allegations of hospice fraud have been on the rise in California, many of them from Los Angeles County. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Although the state does not process Medicare payments, it licenses hospice providers, effectively determining which organizations can enroll in the government program.
California has been hit by allegations of widespread hospice fraud, prompting government action. CBS News found that of the approximately 1,800 homes in Los Angeles County, 742 were still operating despite numerous red flags. In one place, about 500 hospice companies operated within a three-kilometer radius.
In March 2022, California’s state auditor warned Newsom and state lawmakers of a “rapid increase in the number of hospices without a clear correlation to growing demand,” as well as concerns about overcrowding, long patient stays, high discharge rates and the possible use of stolen identities.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California arrested eight people in a health care fraud case. The office said in its announcement of the arrests, made in cooperation with the Vice President for Fraud Enforcement, that the defendants “planned to defraud the nation’s health care system of more than $50 million.” Part of this plan, according to the office, includes “running hospices.”
COMER TELLS NEWSOM ‘TO LISTEN’ AS HOUSE BIBLIOGRAPHY LAUNCHES CALIFORNIA FRAUD INVESTIGATION
Republican Congresswoman Jenny Rae Le Roux’s Cal DOGE organization has vowed to end hospice fraud in the state. (Stock)
On April 9, Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that the state was “taking decisive action to dismantle a massive scheme of identity theft and hospice fraud targeting the Medi-Cal program in Los Angeles.”
The governor’s office said in its announcement that the scheme involved “14 fraudulent hospice providers and resulted in more than $267 million in improper claims paid out of state and federal funds.”
When reached for comment, Bonta’s office referred Fox News Digital to its press release on the matter.
“This is not our political game. This is about protecting taxpayer dollars, protecting the programs that sick and vulnerable Californians depend on, and protecting our state,” Bonta said. “Throughout the life of this fraudulent program, not a single legitimate hospice service was ever provided but millions were billed in a ridiculous, limited way that exploited the Medi-Cal system. This was not a mistake or a loophole; it was intentional fraud.”
Le Roux, cousin of Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, is running in the GOP primary for the 47th Congressional District, which includes part of Orange County.
He dismissed the announcement as a public act and criticized the governor for not introducing broader reforms to the state’s aging oversight system.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta. (Reuters/Fred Greaves/File Photo)
“Gavin Newsom doesn’t care about fighting fraud in California, he’s interested in headlines,” he told Fox News Digital. “He’s trying to blame shift because it’s his job to stop hospice fraud in California, even if the money is coming from the federal government, and he’s not holding you accountable.”
On Wednesday, Fox News Digital learned that an anti-fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance has busted 447 hospices and 23 home health facilities for suspected fraud in Los Angeles. The total amount of the fraud was over $600 million.
“There has been a lot of discussion about whose job it is to find fraud in California, and my answer is, it’s all our job. Therefore, as the director of Cal DOGE, we look at the tips of more than 2,000 whistleblowers across the country,” said Le Roux.
CALIFORNIA BUILDING WITH HEALTH CARE ISSUES, DISEASE PROVIDERS WAKE UP AMID COVERAGE
Cal DOGE, whose acronym is the same as Federal Department of Government Efficiency, is an organization dedicated to combating waste, fraud and abuse in the Golden State. Le Roux told Fox News Digital that the agency is taking a more aggressive approach than traditional oversight efforts by investigating whistleblower tips and applying public pressure to expose potential fraud.
“Ten weeks ago, when we started DOGE, we said, hey, we’re going to investigate the record of how we really go after fraud in California. So, instead of honoring and making Freedom of Information Act requests, we’re going to take public information and tips, and we’re going to announce an investigation into fraud, how the government itself should catch fraud, “and the government itself should catch fraud.
Jenny Rae Le Roux, candidate for California’s 47th District, speaks at an affordable town hall at Hotel Zessa in Santa Ana on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Le Roux pointed out that the level of potential fraud in California far exceeds that seen in states like Minnesota, adding that recent findings suggest tens of billions of dollars in fraud and waste each year, although Fox News Digital could not independently verify the figure.
“California’s budget is the fourth largest and one of the largest budgets in the world… And with these 2,000 tips that we’re investigating right now, they cover every department in the state of California,” he said. “Minnesota is a drop in the bucket compared to what we’re looking at in California.”
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As a candidate, Le Roux hopes to take his fight to the federal level and ensure that the government “fully understands” where its funds are going.
“When you’re spending money in a place that’s obviously prone to fraud like California, we need to do a better job of oversight at the federal level,” she said. “That’s why I decided to run for Congress, because I started asking, ‘Why are we doing Freedom of Information Act requests for taxpayer dollars?’ Every dollar we spend, except for defense, must be publicly disclosed. “
Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.
