SEVIER COUNTY WOMAN ARRESTED FOR TENNCARE FRAUD

NASHVILLE – A Sevier County woman will appear in court May 13th for charges related to TennCare fraud and prescription drug fraud. Fifty-year-old Pamela Winters was arrested by officers of the Pigeon Forge Police Department on a warrant taken out by investigators with the Office of TennCare Inspector General (OIG).

Officials say Winters went to a pharmacy in Pigeon Forge on February 3, 2005 and tried to use her TennCare card to pay for a forged prescription for methadone.

“We are working diligently to stop abuse of the TennCare program – especially in the area of prescription drugs – where costs in TennCare have skyrocketed,” Inspector General Deborah Faulkner said. “We are pursuing dozens of prescription cases across the state and plan to prosecute anyone and everyone we find to be abusing this system.”

Winters was lodged in the Sevier County Jail. She is scheduled to appear in Sevier County General Sessions Court on May 13th. District Attorney General Al Schmutzer is prosecuting.

Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or log on to www.tennessee.gov/tenncare and follow the prompts that read “Report Fraud Now.”

TennCare is the state’s managed care health insurance program for 1.3 million people who are poor, disabled or uninsured.