If someone who worked for you stole money out of the cash register,
would you let them keep their job? The answer is: of course not.

Yet the federal government lets people who steal from TennCare stay
on the health insurance rolls.

This issue was illustrated last week when federal, state and local
officials busted dozens of people for selling Dilaudid they obtained
on TennCare for illegal use. Dilaudid is a painkiller widely
prescribed for post-surgical pain relief and management of acute or
chronic pain.

In some rural counties, the abuse of Dilaudid has passed the more
widely known use of methamphetamine.

Herea€TMs how the scam works: TennCare abusers visit several doctors
who prescribe the painkiller for what they believe is a true illness.
The scammers then turn around and sell the pills to drug abusers, who
have learned to crush the pills, liquefy them and inject them into
their bloodstream.

Nashville is a big part of the problem. Pills that sell for $13 in
Nashville go for $20-$30 in rural parts of the state.

The only cure for this TennCare malady is to pass federal legislation
that would allow states to kick those people off the rolls who abuse
the system by stealing, in effect.

Medicaid reform legislation in the House of Representatives would
give states flexibility in dealing with these issues. It seems like a
no-brainer that stealing from the government should have consequences.