07/17/2025

Dr. Oz Publishes Op-Ed on Fraud, Waste and Abuse

In a July 15 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and Deputy Administrator and COO Kim Brandt discussed their focus on stopping fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare program. The op-ed specifically calls out Los Angeles as a hot spot for fraudulent hospice agencies and the role international operators have played in the growth of fraud.

The op-ed states "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is closing the door to what has become a global raid on one of America’s most important public trust funds. This spring, we rolled out a war room — the Fraud Defense Operations Center — a team of experts from across the agency using artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technology to identify fraudulent activity before we pay the bills." The op-ed concludes with a call to action for seniors and others, both inside and outside the healthcare system, to take action to prevent fraud in their communities.

LeadingAge has long advocated for program integrity measures, including issuing 34 recommendations to CMS and Congress in 2023 and working on program integrity oversight measures included in the Hospice CARE Act of 2024.