Lindsey Horner, considered the “most wanted” person for TennCare fraud, was arrested Friday, according to a press release by the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration (F&A).
The Tennessee Office of Inspector General (OIG), in a joint effort with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, announced that the 39-year-old Big Sandy, Tennessee, was charged with TennCare fraud and theft of services. The TennCare fraud charge is a class D felony, and the theft of services charge is a class C felony, the press release notes.
According to the press release by F&A, investigators say Horner allegedly claimed to TennCare that her minor child was living with her, but that was not the case. As a result, TennCare paid more than $28,084.00 in fees and claims on her behalf.
“This arrest is significant because Ms. Horner was classified as one of our ‘most wanted’ because we weren’t able to locate her for more than a year,” Inspector General Chad Holman said in a statement. “Everyone at the OIG is grateful for our partners in local law enforcement agencies who assist us in locating people who are being sought for TennCare fraud.”
The case is being prosecuted by District 24 Attorney General Matthew F. Stowe, who serves Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Hardin and Henry Counties.
According to the Department of Finance and Administration, fraud is “an intentional deception or misrepresentation made by a person with the knowledge that the deception could result in some unauthorized benefit to himself or some other person. It includes any act that constitutes fraud under applicable Federal or State Law.”
Also, abuse the department defines abuse as “provider practices that are inconsistent with sound fiscal, business, or medical practices, and result in an unnecessary cost to the Medicaid program, or in reimbursement of services that are not medically necessary or that fail to meet professionally recognized standards for health care. It also includes recipient practices that result in unnecessary cost to the Medicaid/TennCare/Cover TN Program.”
TennCare is the state’s Medicaid program that provides healthcare for approximately 1.6 million Tennesseans. The program covers approximately 23 percent of the state’s population, 50 percent of the state’s births, and 53 percent of the state’s children, according to information provided by the Tennessee Division of TennCare.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
