Overview
- The Justice Department unveiled the West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force on Thursday, covering Arizona, Nevada, and the Northern District of California.
- At least 10 prosecutors from the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section will work with U.S. Attorneys and agents from HHS‑OIG, the FBI, and the DEA using data tools to spot and charge complex schemes.
- The team will target hospice billing abuse, wound care graft scams, Medicaid and TRICARE fraud, and technology‑driven digital health cases tied to Silicon Valley.
- Officials cited recent results to show the need, including long prison terms and $126 million seized in a $1.2 billion Arizona wound graft case and charges in a $650 million Medicaid scheme tied to substance‑abuse clinics.
- The strike force extends a national model linked to the President’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and follows a $300 million DOJ grant program to help state and local prosecutors pursue fraud and recover taxpayer funds.