California GOP rips Gavin Newsom, demands answers on hospice fraud scandal

Gavin Newsom failed to protect California taxpayers from massive fraud, and now there’s a growing push for answers and accountability after widespread fraud was uncovered in the state’s hospice industry, as outlined in a scathing new letter from CA’s Republican congressional delegation.

“The scale of these findings points to systemic weaknesses that have allowed fraud to escalate, harming vulnerable patients and taxpayers,” the letter, sent Monday, and obtained exclusively by The California Post reads. 

At the center of GOP lawmakers concerns is the lack of safeguards, and the apparent failure from the state to adopt emergency regulations despite a mandate from the legislature to do so following a 2022 state audit report.

“They’re lifting the moratorium without putting in new guidelines, so we want to know why that is and we’re asking some pointed questions about that,” Congressman Jay Obernolte told The Post. 

Newsom issued a moratorium on hospice licenses following the audit, but the emergency regulations intended to strengthen oversight and regulations that were filed in December of 2025 were withdrawn just days later, according to the letter.  

While the letter notes emergency regulations seem to be actively adopted, they have not been formally re-submitted — instead, the moratorium has been extended through 2027. 

“Gavin Newsom has been asleep at the wheel and failed to protect California taxpayers from fraud on a massive scale,” Congressman Ken Calvert said. “We need California to wake up and take action to stop this fraud.” 

A sentiment echoed by Congresswoman Young Kim, who also signed the letter and called out state leadership for “looking the other way.” 

“While hardworking Californians are struggling to make ends meet, the hospice fraud business seems to be booming,” she said, adding that “someone has to hold Sacramento accountable, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.” 

This is the second later in as many months, as House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer announced a probe into “rampant” hospice fraud in California back in March — calling out Newsom and the state for having a “well-documented history of fraud in its hospice programs” and estimated the total amount at over $105 million.

The California GOP’s letter comes as hospice fraud has taken center stage in the Trump administration’s mission to root out waste, fraud and abuse. 

Earlier this month, a California Post investigation revealed a network of suspicious doctors who appear to be driving tens of millions of questionable billing in California’s hospice system and led to Dr. Fariba Javaherian, a registered dermatologist, losing her license to bill Medicare along with 16 hospice facilities. 

Javaherian was associated with 63 hospice facilities across California either as a medical director, attending physician or in some other capacity and appeared on more than 6,000 claims that billed $35,816,331, according to CMS billing data obtained by The Post. 

Federal authorities also launched a series of raids in April targeting people accused of health care fraud, resulting in the arrests of eight people including three nurses, a chiropractor and a psychologist, who all face federal charges for allegedly scamming the nation’s health care system of more than $50 million. 

“We all have an interest in making sure taxpayer dollars are wisely and appropriately spent,” Obernolte said. “Everyone loses when we allow fraudsters to take those dollars away from the people who are legitimately entitled to them.”