(CNN) — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Wednesday that it is placing a six-month moratorium on new enrollment of health providers in Medicare — its latest effort to combat what it says is widespread fraud among hospice and home health providers.

“We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement.

“Today we’re shutting the door on fraud—preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already e...