S2 E2 Start with Trust...then Double Check

Send us Fan MailSeven Texas hospices reported a 100 percent live-discharge rate last year. Twenty-five more reported above 90 percent. The national average is 17 percent. Every patient enrolled in end-of-life care at those seven hospices walked out alive.One Texas hospice executive testified before the state Senate that an investigator she worked with found a single owner operating fifteen hospices out of one building. A ten-patient hospice generates approximately $60,000 a month in Medicare billing. Fifteen hospices in one building. Roughly $11 million a year. From a single doorway.And some patients, according to documented testimony, do not know they have been enrolled.This week, Edge of the Story goes to Texas. Where the same fraud architecture that drained Los Angeles County migrated after California began aggressive enforcement. ProPublica documented buildings in LA that once housed more than 100 hospices simultaneously. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said at the National Press Club in April 2026 that fraudulent operators shift jurisdictions as enforcement tightens. Texas hospice licenses have doubled since 2020.Last week we asked whether the money changed the diagnosis. This week we ask a harder question. What happens when Medicare pays the same daily rate whether a nurse goes to the bedside or whether nothing happens at all? And what happens to the patient — the actual dying patient, the one the program was designed to serve — when no one is checking?The Company Moment is a fruitcake bakery in Corsicana, Texas. Where a CPA earning $50,000 a year stole approximately $17 million over nine years. He bought 38 cars. Neiman Marcus ran out of things to sell him. He took 223 private jet trips. The bakery hurt itself trying to solve a problem that was sitting at a desk inside the building writing checks to itself. When the fraud was finally discovered, the bakery's president did not become bitter. He wrote twelve words that became the bakery's new credo — and the season's closing argument.Start with trust. Then double-check.THE TEXAS HOSPICE TESTIMONYLisa McNair testimony — Texas Senate Health and Human Services, April 8, 2026https://senate.texas.gov/cmte.php?c=535“You don’t go on hospice to leave alive” — KFDMhttps://kfdm.com/news/local/you-dont-go-on-hospice-to-leave-alive-waste-watch-exposes-signs-of-texas-hospice-fraud15 hospices in one building — Breitbart Texashttps://www.breitbart.com/border/2026/05/09/report-medicare-scams-in-texas-15-hospices-in-one-building-patients-signed-up-without-knowing/Local hospice leader exposes fraud — KBTXhttps://www.kbtx.com/2026/05/08/local-hospice-leader-exposes-fraud-draining-millions-taxpayer-dollars-across-texas/ THE CALIFORNIA-TO-TEXAS MIGRATIONCMS Administrator Oz at the National Press Club, April 28, 2026 — Morgan Lewis briefhttps://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2026/05/cms-trains-its-program-integrity-sights-on-texas-hospicesProPublica investigation — 100+ hospices at single LA addresseshttps://www.propublica.org/article/hospice-fraud-medicare-end-of-life-careDOJ — 8 Arrested in California $267M Hospice Fraud Takedown, April 24, 2026https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/8-arrested-health-care-fraud-takedown-including-owners-hospices-billed-taxpayers THE NUMBERSPhantom Hospices Texas investigation — May 10, 2026https://voz.us/en/society/260510/35588/phantom-hospices-fraud-scheme-that-drained-millions-from-medicare-in-texas-under-investigation.htmlTexas hospice licenses doubled since 2020 — Texas Department of Healthhttps://www.hhs.texas.gov/services/aging/long-term-care/hospiceHospice Medicare per diem payment rates — CMShttps://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/prospective-payment-systems/hospice THE COMPANY MOMENT — COLLIN STREET BAKERYThe Collin Street Bakery embezzlement story — Texas Monthlyhttps://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-great-fruitcake-heist/Sandy Jenkins federal sentencing — DOJ Eastern District of Texashttps://www.justice.gov/usao-edtx/pr/corsicana-couple-sentenced-fraudFruitcake Fraud documentary — Amazon Prime Videohttps://www.amazon.com/Fruitcake-Fraud-Season-1/dp/B09NXHL5XXCollin Street Bakery — Corsicana, Texas (since 1896)https://www.collinstreet.com IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE NEEDS HOSPICE CARENational Hospice and Palliative Care Organization — Find a Providerhttps://www.nhpco.org/find-hospiceMedicare Hospice Compare — Official quality datahttps://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/?providerType=HospiceVeterans Crisis Line — Call 988 and Press 1  ·  Text 838255https://www.veteranscrisisline.netSAMHSA National Helpline — 1-800-662-HELP (4357)https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helplineHave you ever been in a room where something shifted—but no one said it out loud?Share your story at www.edgeofthestory.com/heard. If we feature it, we’ll send you an Edge of the Story notebook—because some observations are worth writing down.