Los Angeles, California — A new clash between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Trump administration emerged this week after Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, released a video alleging large-scale health care fraud tied to Los Angeles’s Armenian community.
The dispute escalated Thursday when Newsom announced his office had filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, accusing Oz of making discriminatory and unsupported claims. In the video, Oz walks through the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles and points to a four-block area he says contains 42 hospice providers, suggesting widespread fraud. He further alleges that billions of dollars in hospice and home care fraud in Los Angeles were run in part by what he described as the “Russian Armenian mafia.”
Newsom’s office said the remarks were “baseless and racially charged” and warned they could discourage legitimate participation in hospice and home care programs. State officials said the claims had already caused harm, citing reduced business at an Armenian bakery shown in the video. Oz and CMS have not publicly released evidence substantiating the allegations, nor have they responded directly to the civil rights complaint.
Newsom disputed Oz’s assertions by pointing out that California has already revoked more than 280 hospice licenses and imposed a moratorium on new licenses beginning in 2022 due to documented fraud concerns. The two figures then traded sharp exchanges on social media.
The episode reflects a broader pattern of conflict between Newsom and the Trump administration, which has increasingly spotlighted alleged fraud nationwide while clashing with California on immigration, military deployments, and environmental policy.
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