If an individual is accused of defrauding Tennessee's Medicaid program, or TennCare, the state will post the name and photo of that individual for anyone to view online, or even place that individual on a public 'most wanted' list across social media, Kaiser Health News reported Feb. 22.
The practice has led to innocent individuals having no job prospects after the state publicly accuses them of defrauding TennCare, which is a felony.
According to KHN, a woman was arrested for alleged Medicaid fraud in 2022, made to pay $2,000 to bond out of jail, and then had to hire an attorney. Eventually, the felony charges were dropped after she proved that she was enrolled in TennCare while living in Memphis, but was divorcing a husband who lived in Mississippi, which was the address shown on her driver's license.
If her name is searched online today, the first link says she is on a state 'most wanted' list for TennCare fraud, leaving her with little to no prospects for employment.
Most state's have a department to investigate Medicaid fraud, but few employ the strategy that Tennessee's Office of Inspector General does, according to KHN.
The Tennessee OIG office was created in 2005 and has an annual budget of $6.4 million. Since 2005, the office has charged about 3,200 people with fraud and recovered $10 million total. In 2022, it accused 28 people of defrauding Medicaid.
KHN reported that in Memphis specifically, 20 out of 27 Medicaid fraud cases since 2019 involved state residency issues, and at least 24 of those cases were dropped because of weak evidence.
"We try to apply the law compassionately," Tennessee Inspector General Chad Holman told KHN. "It's not to blast anyone or defame anyone. It's to simply take care of the business that's at hand, hold people accountable, and do what we're here to do."