California Weekly Roundup: Oz's Feud With California Over Health Care Fraud

Plus: Cuts at UCI Health; lawsuit against Rady Children's Health over trans care; cash for the unhoused in Encinitas; uncounted covid deaths; California's IVF birth rates; and more ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

Not a subscriber? Sign Up Tuesday, March 24, 2026 Visit KFF Health News for the latest California headlines California Weekly Roundup THIS WEEK'S FEATURE Oz Says California's Not Fighting Health Care Fraud, but Data Shows It's Part of a Larger Battle (OLIVER CONTRERAS / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES) By Don Thompson   SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For weeks, Mehmet Oz has been waging a public feud with California leaders over health care fraud, accusing the blue state of failing to adequately combat such abuse.   Oz, who heads the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, alleged that there was approximately $3.5 billion of fraud in the hospice and home health care industry in Los Angeles County alone. "This administration under President [Donald] Trump is not going to tolerate taxpayer dollars being stolen because people aren't paying attention anymore. We're focused on this," Oz said. He claimed the fraud was largely orchestrated by the "Russian, Armenian mafia" and said that most of the money spent on home and community-based services across California "might be fraudulent."   However, CMS clarified that not all billing activities referenced by Oz were presumed to be improper. And a review of the most recent available data shows that there are hotbeds of health care fraud across the country and across practice areas, most of them allegedly perpetrated by health insurers and other domestic actors, and that California outperforms most other states in recovering fraud dollars.   As the temperature heats up in the conflict between the Trump administration and California, a handful of Republican state lawmakers have entered the fray, accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom in a March letter of allowing "rampant fraud." Democratic state officials insist they aggressively combat fraud, and Newsom has filed a civil rights complaint against Oz, calling language in the allegations "baseless and racially charged."   "The Trump Administration is attempting to take the issue of fraud — a very real, and national issue — and weaponize it against Democratic states," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in an early February statement.   Read the full story. Follow us online for more KFF Health News coverage: Top Health Headlines From Around California Health Industry Los Angeles Daily News: UCI Health Lays Off 150 Workers As Part Of Restructuring  UCI Health said the cuts were prompted by a changing environment that includes shifts in federal funding, reimbursement pressures and rising operational costs. (Maio, 3/23)   Los Angeles Daily News: California Hospitals Laying Off Thousands As Funding Cuts Trickle Down Over the past year, multibillion dollar cuts in federal and state funding for health care have led to job cuts at hospitals — with some pushed into dire financial straits. (Maio, 3/22)   Capital & Main: Is Kaiser's Labor-Management Model Unraveling? Health care workers say the system's push for growth is undermining a once-vaunted partnership — and affecting patients. (Kreidler, 3/20)   Becker's Hospital Review: BCBS Of Minnesota CEO Leaves Sutter Board Over Allina Deal Dana Erickson, BSN, RN, president and CEO of Eagan, Minn.-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, has resigned from the board of Sacramento-based Sutter Health as the system moves forward with its proposed acquisition of Minneapolis-based Allina Health. (Gooch, 3/23)   Pasadena Star News: 15 Hospices Incorporated In A Single Day, In A Single Suite In Van Nuys The businesses, which should have raised red flags for potential fraud, have received more than $12 million from Medicare and Medi-Cal since 2023. (Henry, 3/22)   Santa Monica Daily Press: Santa Monica Gets Child Therapy Center  Child Therapy Center of Los Angeles opens a new Santa Monica location offering neuroscience-based pediatric mental health care for ages 2-18. (Edgar, 3/19)   KVPR: Medi-Cal Reduces Dental Care For Undocumented, May Force More Dentists To Turn Away Low-Income Patients California expects to save more than $300 million per year by restricting Medi-Cal dental benefits for undocumented, low-income residents. But advocates say it will come at the expense of broader health concerns and reduced access to care. (Sheehan, 3/23)   Manteca Bulletin: Ripon Responds To Emergencies With '4' Firefighters With A Big Asterisk  Fifty percent of the cardiac arrest calls the Ripon Consolidated Fire District handled last year ended with the patient surviving. It's a relatively solid survival rate not enjoyed by a lot of fire services. (Wyatt, 3/21) LGBTQ+ Health Los Angeles Blade: Families File Lawsuit Against Rady Children's Health, Citing Discrimination Against Trans Youth Four minors and their families are fighting on behalf of thousands at risk of losing gender-affirming care at Rady Children's Health. (Song, 3/20)   Los Angeles Blade: LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health Bill Makes Progress Despite Anti-Trans Advocacy At Tuesday's state health committee hearing, opposers tried — and failed — to stop AB 1540 from moving forward. (Song, 3/19) Reproductive Care Times of San Diego: California Looks To Spend $3.4 Million To Support Major Shift In Menopause Care New California legislation aims to expand access to medical care pertaining to menopause, but it excludes millions on Medi-Cal. (Aguilera, 3/22)   Imperial Valley Press: New California Bill Aims To Provide Free Menstrual Products To Rural Farmworkers  Assembly Bill 2082 would require the State Department of Public Health to partner with local nonprofit organizations to distribute free menstrual products—including tampons, pads, and menstrual cups—to women in remote agricultural regions. (Bojorquez, 3/24)   San Francisco Chronicle: SF Has One Of The Highest IVF Birth Rates In The US. Here's Why At least 9.4% of babies born in San Francisco in 2024, the latest available data, were born from pregnancies that used assistive reproductive technologies. (Echeverria, 3/21) Public Health San Francisco Chronicle: California Missed 11,000 COVID Deaths Early In Pandemic The U.S. undercounted COVID deaths by more than 150,000, with more than 11,000 in California, according to a new study by Stanford and UCSF researchers. (Vaziri, 3/19)   Los Angeles Times: As Mosquitos Go Year-Round In L.A., A Promising Fix Hits A Snag To curb a dengue-carrying mosquito, L.A. County officials are releasing sterilized males. The approach is promising, but funding to expand it is uncertain. (Seidman, 3/22)   Eureka Times-Standard: To Forage Or Not To Forage: That Is The Question After Mushroom Poisoning Humboldt County health officials identified the poisonous mushroom consumed by a local resident as a western destroying angel mushroom. (Schneider, 3/20)   Imperial Beach News: Stop The Sewage Club Leaders Meet With CA Governor Candidate And San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan  Candidates were asked to tour the Tijuana River Valley and see (and smell) firsthand the cross-border pollution crisis that has caused a state of emergency county-wide. (3/20)   Imperials Beach News: High Hydrogen Sulfide Readings Reported In South Bay  During the latest heat wave, South Bay residents have experienced higher-than-normal hydrogen sulfide odors from Tijuana sewage pollution. (Selgi-Harrigan, 3/20) Housing Crisis inewsource: Unhoused People In Encinitas Could Soon Get $2,000 In Rental Assistance In Just 48 Hours People experiencing homelessness in Encinitas may soon be able to get up to $2,000 in one-time rental assistance in a matter of days, thanks to a new agreement between the city and a nonprofit. (Futterman, 3/22)   San Francisco Examiner: Proposed Law Would Permit Evictions For Drug Use From City Housing For Homeless Supervisor Matt Dorsey is pushing a new proposal that would emphasize drug-free permanent supportive housing, making it possible to evict residents for drug use. (Gurevich, 3/20)   Voice of OC: Orange Eyes Smoking Ban As A Crackdown On Homelessness While cities across Orange County look to ban smoking in public areas, the City of Orange is looking to take a different approach — targeting people who sleep on the streets. (Grube and Georgitis, 3/23)   Chico Enterprise-Record: Judge Again Denies Chico's Motion To Exit Homeless Settlement  Chico's second attempt to exit the Warren v. Chico settlement agreement was once again been denied in a ruling Monday from the U.S. District Court Eastern District of California. (Weber, 2/23) Other California News Imperial Valley Press: Imperial County Board Moves To Secure Millions For Senior Meals, Infrastructure, And Public Health In a significant move for the county's aging population, the board will consider a three-year agreement between the Public Administrator and the Imperial Valley Food Bank. The contract would provide senior meals through March 2029. (3/24)   CalMatters: CA Colleges Will Offer Rehab Over Discipline For Overdosing  A new California law requires state colleges and universities to offer rehab services to students rather than punish them for overdosing. (Ta, 3/19)   The Willits News: What Teens Are Saying About Fentanyl: Community Film Screening And Panel Mendocino County students and families are invited to attend a free community screening of the documentary Fentanyl High, followed by a panel discussion. There are two opportunities to participate: Wednesday, March 25, in Ukiah at Regal Theater, and Thursday, April 2, in Fort Bragg at Coast Cinemas. (3/21)   CalMatters: Digital Tablets Mellowed California Prisons. Now A Tech Migration Is Riling Users Every incarcerated person in a California prison has a digital table enabling communication with the outside world. The system is changing vendors to lower costs. (Garcia, 3/24)   Los Angeles Times: Data Centers Under Scrutiny By California Lawmakers As Fears Rise About Health And Energy Impacts  Due to health and energy concerns, the California Legislature is considering bills to prohibit data centers from being exempted from the state's stringent environmental law and impose new tariffs on new major energy users that strain power supplies. (King, 3/23)   San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Scientists Are Working To Detect The Earliest Signs Of Schizophrenia--And To Prevent It UCSF and Stanford researchers are tracking early schizophrenia signs to predict psychosis and improve treatment before it starts. (Allday, 3/22) This Week's 'KFF Health News Minute' Amid federal spending cuts and suspicion of fluoride, tooth problems are sending more kids to the ER. Plus, patients look to health savings accounts to deal with rising medical costs. 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