DOJ Launches West Coast Strike Force Against Health Care Fraud

The Department of Justice on April 30, 2026, announced the creation of the West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force, a multi-district effort led by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald to boost prosecutions in California, Arizona and Nevada, according to the agency's press release.

The strike force targets health care fraud that drains federal funds, affecting programs like Medicare and Medicaid which serve over 140 million Americans nationwide, per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' enrollment data. In California alone, Medicare covers 6.5 million beneficiaries and processes claims worth $100 billion annually, while Arizona and Nevada together handle $30 billion in Medicare payments each year, based on 2023 federal health expenditure reports.

The initiative focuses on schemes that steal from taxpayers, with the DOJ noting that such fraud costs the U.S. government billions yearly.

Before this announcement, the DOJ's Fraud Division operated without a dedicated regional strike force for the West Coast, relying on existing prosecutorial resources spread across districts. The new setup surges at least 10 additional federal prosecutors to the area starting immediately, enabling coordinated investigations and cases in partnership with the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

This change takes effect with the strike force's formation on April 30, 2026.

The added prosecutors will accelerate case filings in U.S. District Courts across the three states, triggering faster grand jury proceedings and potential indictments under statutes like 18 U.S.C. § 1347 for health care fraud. Federal agencies must now allocate personnel for joint operations, with the HHS Office of Inspector General required to share investigative leads on fraud schemes.

This structure positions the DOJ to pursue more civil penalties and asset forfeitures, recovering funds for federal health programs under the False Claims Act.

The strike force emerges from the DOJ's recently established Fraud Division, which has announced multiple enforcement actions in its first week, per the press release. The division builds on prior task forces like those in Florida and Texas that have secured over 1,000 convictions since 2010, according to DOJ annual reports.