This should stop every taxpayer cold.

An independent journalist gained access to a building in Los Angeles after discovering the page in system to enter was broken. What he found inside was not just strange. It was alarming.

Dozens of home healthcare and hospice businesses were operating out of the same building. Some doors had no signs at all. Others had business names that sounded vague or outright made up. In an industry where competition is fierce and trust is everything, the setup made no sense.

If you were running a legitimate hospice business, you would not want twenty other hospice companies next door competing for the same patients. That alone raises serious questions. Hospice care is not a pop up shop. It involves end of life care, federal funding, and strict oversight. At least that is how it is supposed to work.

This discovery mirrors the early signs of the massive fraud uncovered in Minnesota, where fake providers siphoned millions in taxpayer dollars. The difference is scale. California is bigger, more complex, and historically less aggressive about enforcement. That combination is a recipe for abuse.

Taxpayer dollars meant to care for the sick and dying are being funneled through systems that look more like shell operations than healthcare providers. Families trust these programs. The government funds them. And bad actors exploit both.

This is exactly why transparency matters. It is why independent journalists matter. And it is why ignoring red flags only guarantees bigger scandals down the road. Nick Shirley lit a fire under the feet of journalists across the country.

If Minnesota was the warning shot, California might be the main event. And if leaders do not act now, taxpayers and vulnerable patients will pay the price later.