Witness says many California hospices appear unstaffed and poorly vetted

A witness said many hospice providers in California appear to be unstaffed and may have passed licensing and certification checks despite inadequate oversight.

The witness said, "There is 5 months worth of mail that you can see stacked up from CMS and nobody's there," and asked, "How do you put a hospice in a burrito stand in California? How do you put a hospice in a tire store in California?" The witness also questioned how those operations could have been ‘‘vetted through licensure and through certification and accreditation.’’

The remarks focused on three claims: that some hospice facilities in California are physically unattended, that mail and correspondence from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have gone uncollected for months, and that some licensed hospices were operating out of nonmedical businesses. The witness framed these points as evidence of gaps in regulatory vetting and asked how such facilities had been approved.

The transcript contains no response from regulators or other participants, and it does not record any formal motions, votes, or follow-up actions tied to these allegations. The witness did not identify specific facility names or provide documentation in the provided excerpt.

Absent further evidence in the record, the claims remain allegations raised in testimony. The transcript does not show any immediate verification, rebuttal, or next procedural steps.