TennCare Fraud

By Angela Hatton

Nashville, TN – TennCare officials say 2008 has been a record year for exposing fraud among the Tennessee public health care system. The Office of the Inspector General for the agency says it has made 35 arrests during December and 262 for the entire year. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports the numbers are records for both any single month and any year since the office's formation in February 2005. Inspector General Deborah Faulkner says a 2007 bill that made "doctor shopping" against the law spurred more arrests in 2008. State officials estimate the office has saved $159 million for the TennCare program.