Benton Co. Woman Charged 3rd Time with TennCare Fraud

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Benton County woman is charged for the third time with doctor shopping for prescription drugs, using TennCare benefits as payment.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG), along with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, today announced the arrest of Aleisha L. Wagner, 31 of Holladay. A Montgomery County indictment accuses her of using TennCare to visit multiple providers in a short period of time in order to obtain prescriptions for the painkiller Oxycodone, with TennCare paying for either the clinical visits or the prescriptions.

Wagner was arrested last month after she was indicted in Henry County in connection with fraudulently obtaining the painkiller Hydrocodone by doctor shopping. And in October of last year, she was charged in Montgomery County with three counts of using TennCare to obtain prescriptions for the painkillers Oxycodone and Hydrocodone.

“The abuse of TennCare benefits, especially to obtain pain medications, is one of our many priorities,” Inspector General Manny Tyndall said. “Local law enforcement, providers and the healthcare community are with us in the effort to weed this problem out of the TennCare program.”

District Attorney General John W. Carney is prosecuting. Beginning July 1, TennCare fraud was elevated to a Class D felony, raising the maximum penalty from two 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, 2,688 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.”