Blount Co. Woman Charged 2nd Time with TennCare Fraud

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Blount County woman is charged a second time with doctor shopping, a crime involving fraudulent efforts to obtain prescription drugs and using TennCare benefits as payment.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG), with the assistance of sheriff’s officers in Knox and Blount Counties, today announced the arrest of Brandi Inman, 34, of Rockford. She is charged in a Blount County indictment with five counts of doctor shopping for the painkillers Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Codeine, using TennCare as payment. Inman was being held in the Knox County Jail on unrelated charges before she was transported to Blount County.

Inman was first arrested in August 2016 in Knox County, when she was charged with six counts of fraudulently using TennCare to obtain the painkillers Hydrocodone and Oxycodone by doctor shopping.

“We have open cases in almost every county in Tennessee,” Inspector General Manny Tyndall said. “We’re committed to stopping this type of activity so TennCare will be there for people who have legitimate needs for healthcare benefits.”

District Attorney General Mike Flynn is prosecuting the Blount County case. As of July 1, 2016, TennCare fraud was changed to 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, 2,756 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.”