Trump administration pauses Medicare enrollments for hospice providers amid fraud investigations

Washington — The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it will be enacting a six-month moratorium on new Medicare enrollments by hospice and home health agencies to target fraud.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, during the moratorium, “CMS will intensify targeted investigations, deploy advanced data analytics, and accelerate the removal of hospice and HHA providers from the Medicare program that are suspected of committing fraud.”

CMS says the moratoria will not impact current enrollments, and existing providers will be able to continue serving Medicare beneficiaries. 

“We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “Today we’re shutting the door on fraud—preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them. This is about protecting patients, restoring integrity, and safeguarding taxpayer dollars.”

The announcement comes a day before Vice President JD Vance, who heads up the White House’s anti-fraud task force, speaks in Bangor, Maine, about the administration’s efforts to combat fraud.