Texas Drafts Hospice Rules for 1,300 Providers as Medicare Fraud Scrutiny Widens
Updated
Updated · KBTX · May 8
Texas Drafts Hospice Rules for 1,300 Providers as Medicare Fraud Scrutiny Widens
2 articles · Updated · KBTX · May 8
Texas is drafting new hospice rules and facing increased federal scrutiny after testimony alleged fraudulent operators are siphoning millions from Medicare by enrolling patients who were ineligible or unaware they were on service.
1,300 hospices now operate in Texas—nearly double the 2020 count—and advocates say some owners run as many as 15 hospices from one building to stay small enough to avoid quality-reporting requirements.
Just 10 patients can generate $60,000 a month per hospice in Medicare billing, and Lisa McNair said such schemes surface at least weekly in Brazos County, sometimes after families are signed by providers they mistook for another hospice.
Red flags include 100% live-discharge rates and missing quality data: 61% of Medicare-certified Texas hospices reported no quality data in 2025.
McNair urged lawmakers to pause new hospice licenses while existing ones are reviewed, underscoring broader concerns that fraud is draining taxpayer funds and undermining trust in legitimate end-of-life care.
As hospice fraud drains billions from Medicare, are federal crackdowns too little, too late for patients being exploited?
Could new federal oversight rules inadvertently punish the legitimate non-profit hospices that patients desperately need?
Is the for-profit model for end-of-life care fundamentally broken, creating a system ripe for fraud and abuse?
Texas Hospice Fraud Crisis 2026: Unprecedented Crackdown, New CMS Regulations, and the Battle for Trust in End-of-Life Care
Overview
As of May 2026, Texas has become the center of a major crackdown on hospice Medicare fraud, reflecting a nationwide surge in enforcement. The state faces intense scrutiny due to the alarming scale of fraudulent activities, which have caused significant financial and human harm. This crisis is part of a broader national trend, with Medicare fraud now a prominent political concern drawing bipartisan attention. Recent large-scale cases in other states, like California’s $267 million fraud ring involving fake hospice companies and stolen identities, have set the stage for aggressive actions in Texas, highlighting the urgent need for stronger oversight and accountability.