The Justice Department has launched a new healthcare fraud task force spanning Arizona, Nevada and Northern California.
The West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force brings together the department’s fraud division with U.S. attorney’s offices in the three districts. The initiative builds on the department’s broader healthcare fraud enforcement model, which has led to charges against more than 6,200 defendants accused of billing over $45 billion to federal healthcare programs and private insurers, according to an April 30 news release.
The move comes as federal agencies ramp up oversight of the healthcare industry more broadly. In March, the Federal Trade Commission launched a healthcare task force focused on anticompetitive behavior, consumer protection and identifying emerging market risks.
Officials said the expansion is driven by data showing an increase in fraud across the three regions, including technology-driven schemes in Northern California and growing activity in Arizona and Nevada.
“Silicon Valley has become ground zero for technology-driven healthcare fraud schemes that seek to cheat taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare,” Craig Missakian, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, said in the release.
The strike force will coordinate with federal agencies including the FBI, HHS Office of Inspector General and the Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate and prosecute fraud cases.
Recent cases highlighted by the department include a $1.2 billion wound care fraud scheme in Arizona that resulted in prison sentences of more than 14 years for two company owners and the seizure of $126 million in assets. In another case, a medical billing company owner was indicted for an alleged $650 million Medicaid fraud scheme tied to substance abuse treatment clinics.
The department also pointed to a Northern California case involving digital health executives convicted in a scheme exceeding $100 million that included незаконное prescribing of Adderall over the internet.
Federal officials said healthcare fraud in these regions is placing increasing strain on taxpayer-funded programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare, while harming patients.
The launch follows a record year for healthcare fraud enforcement in 2025, when the department reported more than $15 billion in alleged losses tied to cases brought during the National Health Care Fraud Takedown.
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