Long before the advent of cable news and the internet, you could count the number of networks using your fingers: ABC, NBC, CBS, United Press International, and the Associated Press.
Now, despite a near-infinite internet reach, podcasts, and some conservative news sites, news consumption still runs through a handful of powerful filters. Millions of Americans open the same apps daily, assuming they’re seeing a broad view of events. What they see depends on choices made behind their screen, and a recent finding shows just how much can be left out.
A March 31 special report from NewsBusters tracked four dominant platforms over a 29-day span: Apple News, Google News, Microsoft MSN, and Yahoo News. Those four platforms carried a whopping zero stories on the California hospice fraud scandal from Feb. 25 through March 25.
The hospice fraud, potentially the largest in recent history, intensified in 2021 and reportedly cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, exposing the Newsom administration’s apparent failure to act or worse.
The years-long fraud also raises questions about the inaction of other Democrats, including potential 2028 contenders like former Vice President Kamala Harris, who served as California’s top law enforcement official for seven years, and then as the nation’s second-highest office holder while the fraud spiked to record heights.
But Newsom and Harris can breathe easy for now, as Apple News, Google News, Microsoft’s MSN and Yahoo News kept damning hospice fraud stories out of their top 20 placements for nearly a month, a Media Research Center report found.
The case involves large-scale Medicare fraud, with providers billing for care that never happened.
The Senate Oversight Committee launched a formal investigation on March 23 after Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) detailing evidence that hospice operators enrolled patients without their consent.
“Recent reporting has revealed alarming evidence of fraudulent activity in California’s hospice programs, including agencies overbilling Medicare and fraudulently enrolling beneficiaries without their knowledge. In California, your administration’s Departments of Public Health, Social Services and Health Care Services all have a role in overseeing federally funded hospice programs. The Committee is concerned your administration does not have sufficient internal controls to prevent and detect fraud and is not conducting proper oversight of these hospice programs. As a result, Americans across the country are paying for California’s rampant hospice fraud and vulnerable patients are being exploited. California has a well-documented history of fraud in its hospice programs. Your administration has been aware of credible reports of hospice fraud for at least four years. Despite these red flags, it appears California has enabled hospice providers to defraud the American taxpayer and exploit vulnerable patients,” wrote the Republican lawmakers.
They also charged Medicare for services that were never provided. The losses tied to Los Angeles County alone reached about $3.5 billion.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the head of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, warned that networks tied to foreign nationals appear linked to the schemes. He stated that nearly half of the hospices in Los Angeles County could be fraudulent, making clear that the Trump administration intends to pursue those responsible.
Oz said on a podcast that he would halt “hundreds of millions of dollars” in payments to California if he didn’t get satisfactory answers from state officials. He and Vice President JD Vance announced in late February that they would delay about $260 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota, another Democratic-led state, over fraud allegations there, and the state is now suing.
Oz has also launched social media campaigns alleging high-dollar public benefit fraud in Democratic-led Maine and New York. On March 17, he added a Republican-led state to his target list: Florida.
California officials have taken steps to address the problem. Newsom imposed a moratorium on new hospice licenses and oversaw the revocation of over 280 licenses over the past two years. Another 300 providers remain under review.
Investigators uncovered how concentrated the activity became. Hundreds of hospice companies appeared within a small stretch of LA, with dozens registered at a single address.
The Big Four News Apps — through human and algorithmic curation — control which news reaches hundreds of millions of Americans, often without their knowledge. For the Newsom-linked hospice scandal, Apple News, Google News, Microsoft’s MSN and Yahoo News all chose to blackout coverage.
The Newsom scandal centers on allegations that he ignored, or may have covered up, widespread hospice fraud in California. Reports suggest fraudsters overbilled Medicare and, in some cases, enrolled beneficiaries without their knowledge. State regulators were aware of the warnings for years but may have failed to take decisive action.
Federal scrutiny on the hospice fraud comes as several Democrats seek the California governorship in 2026, including Xavier Becerra, who led the Biden-era Health Department and served as California attorney general, and Rep. Eric Swalwell, a longtime Democratic lawmaker. Meanwhile, both Newsom and Harris are unofficially jockeying for position in early 2028 Democratic primary polls
Some locations showed clear warning signs, including empty offices and unopened mail, while billing patterns rose far beyond normal levels.
Would you be surprised that none of that reached the main feeds of the four largest news apps during the period studied?
No statute requires those platforms to carry any specific story. The First Amendment protects editorial judgment, including decisions about what to highlight and what to leave out. Courts treat those choices as protected expression, even when critics see clear bias.
That limits what the Department of Justice can do. Federal prosecutors can pursue the fraud tied to hospice programs, but they can’t order private platforms to publish or promote coverage.
Antitrust law could apply if coordinated suppression were proven, though that would require clear evidence and would focus on competition instead of viewpoint.
Legal boundaries don’t settle the larger concern.
Those apps function as gatekeepers for millions of readers; their selections shape awareness, frame priorities, and influence what people believe matters.
When a case involving billions in taxpayer losses disappears from those feeds, the absence carries consequences.
NewsBusters deserves credit for identifying and documenting that gap. The report highlights how content curation narrows what users see without any visible sign that something is missing.
The hospice investigation continues to move forward; federal officials, state authorities, and law enforcement agencies remain engaged as the scope of the fraud becomes clearer. Arrests have already been made, and additional actions are likely as investigations progress.
Meanwhile, many Americans who rely on those apps wouldn’t have a clue that the case exists.
That gap leaves an incomplete picture of events that affect public funds, public health programs, and accountability.
I think we’re at the point where we can reasonably assume most health-related agencies run in blue states have some level of corruption — we just haven’t found the evidence just yet.
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