Cannon woman charged with TennCare fraud

A Cannon County woman is charged for the third time with doctor shopping for prescription drugs, using the state's healthcare insurance program for payment.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG), with the assistance of the Warren County Sheriff's Office, today announced the arrest of Heather Marie Hale, 30, of Woodbury. She is charged in Warren County with using TennCare to visit multiple providers in a short period of time in order to obtain prescriptions for the painkillers Hydrocodone, Tramadol and Tylenol with codeine. TennCare was used to pay for the clinical visits, the prescriptions, or both. Hale was being held in the Rutherford County Jail on unrelated charges and was later transported to the Warren County Jail where she was served.

Hale was arrested in November of last year on an indictment in Rutherford County where she was charged with doctor shopping for Hydrocodone and Tramadol, using TennCare as payment. She was first arrested in September of last year on a Cannon County indictment charging her with two counts of using TennCare to obtain prescriptions for the painkillers Hydrocodone and Tramadol. She was given four years of supervised probation in a plea bargain agreement.

"The abuse of TennCare benefits, especially to obtain pain medications, is one of our many priorities," Inspector General Manny Tyndall said. "Tennesseans throughout our communities are helping us in the effort to weed this problem out of the TennCare program."

District Attorney General Lisa S. Zavogiannis is prosecuting. TennCare fraud is now a Class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison.

The OIG, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to more than $3 million being repaid to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of more than $163.6 million for TennCare, according to latest figures. To date, 2,795 people have been charged with TennCare fraud.

Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or visit the website and follow prompts that read "Report TennCare Fraud."