Cracking Down on Fraud: West Coast Style

On April 30, 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched the West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force to target schemes in Arizona, Nevada, and the Northern District of California. The initiative reflects a coordinated effort to expand western enforcement resources and to advance data-driven approaches against fraud involving taxpayer-funded programs. Historically, the DOJ has employed the use of task forces to combat areas of prolific fraud. For example, in the 1990s the DOJ and multiple U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the country joined forces to combat laboratory fraud. See Laboratory Fraud: What Was Old is New Again.

Facts

While healthcare fraud has always existed, the severity and complexity of fraud in the healthcare industry has only increased. Fraudsters have taken advantage of AI and advanced analytics to create and disseminate insidious schemes that touch every area of healthcare. As the country’s hub for healthcare technology, California has been particularly victimized by these schemes. Arizona and Nevada have also been targeted due to a growing senior population and increase in hospice providers. For these reasons, the West Coast Strike Force was created.

The West Coast Strike Force is comprised of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Health Care Fraud Section, U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Northern California, Arizona, and Nevada, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other federal agencies. The targets of this Task Force include billing practices, referral relationships, medical necessities, and controlled-substance prescribing. The new initiative focuses on major systems, life sciences, and tech-driven fraud. Technology-enabled health care models face heightened scrutiny, with Silicon Valley labeled “ground zero” for tech-driven fraud.  Telehealth and models combining technology, patient acquisition, and federal billing are particular areas of focus.

Conclusion

The West Coast Strike Force marks a significant expansion of DOJ’s regional footprint and analytics-driven strategy. It connects Main Justice expertise with local offices and federal partners to address multi-district health care fraud swiftly. Since 2007, Strike Forces have prosecuted over 6,200 defendants who billed more than $45 billion to federal programs and private insurers. The new initiative distinguishes itself by western focus spanning major systems, life sciences, telehealth, DME, medtech, and private equity–backed businesses.