READOUT: FinCEN Holds Engagement to Eliminate Hospice Fraud in California

LOS ANGELES - On August 17, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) convened law enforcement and financial institutions for an engagement on health care benefits fraud, including the exploitation of hospice care services. Participants discussed new and emerging health care fraud schemes targeting federal and state health insurance programs, associated financial typologies and red flag indicators, and opportunities to boost awareness around hospice care fraud. Additionally, FinCEN held a training session for law enforcement on August 18 on how to use Bank Secrecy Act data to combat fraud. These engagements build on FinCEN's work to counter fraud in partnership with the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

Health care fraud exploiting Medicare and Medicaid continues to grow in scale and complexity. It is also increasingly connected to domestic fraud networks and transnational criminal organizations that exploit federal health care programs. Financial institutions should be vigilant to these threats and review FinCEN's recent Advisory on health care fraud schemes targeting Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal and state health care benefit programs.

FinCEN is committed to fostering information sharing and encourages financial institutions to review alerts, advisories, notices, and financial trend analyses to stay informed about the evolving threat posed by nefarious actors, including transnational criminal organizations, that are perpetrating fraud.

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The FinCEN Exchange program is a statutorily authorized, voluntary public-private partnership that convenes relevant stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies and financial institutions. The program aims to protect our national security and our citizens from harm by combatting money laundering and its related crimes, including terrorism, through public-private dialogue that encourages, enables, and acknowledges industry focus on high-value and high-impact activities. The program began in 2017 and was codified as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.