Physicians who oversee hospice clinics deliver a critical and delicate form of care to patients confronting terminal illness with the goal of helping them find dignity and comfort at the end of life. No active physicians oversaw more of these cases in California, or were reimbursed with more taxpayer money, than Dr. Rajiv Bhuva, according to federal records.
But how Bhuva's name came to be listed on reimbursements for at least 2,800 patients across 126 California hospices in 2024 is a question that has puzzled advocates who have tracked the unusual explosion of hospice providers in Southern California in recent years.
While fraud in the hospice industry is a long-running and complex problem, the role of physicians – knowingly or unwittingly facilitating it – has largely gone overlooked.
Dr. Kristina Newport, chief medical officer at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, said the kind of numbers linked to Bhuva and other highly prolific medical providers in the industry raise an array of questions.
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