December 16, 2004: ACLU-TN Urges TennCare Office to Uphold Recipients' Constitutional Rights

For Immediate Release
Thursday, December 16, 2004

For More Information, Contact: Hedy Weinberg,
615-320-7142

ACLU-TN Urges TennCare Office to Uphold
Recipients’ Constitutional Rights

Days after selected TennCare recipients received letters from the TennCare Office of the Inspector General requiring that they self-report any criminal activity, ACLU-TN urged the Inspector General to uphold the constitutional rights of TennCare recipients by notifying them of their Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment protections.

ACLU-TN sent a letter to Deborah Faulkner, the Inspector General at TennCare, expressing concern about the tenor and content of the letter sent to TennCare recipients suspected of abusing the program. ACLU-TN’s letter notes that many innocent TennCare recipients are being targeted.

Ms. Faulkner’s letter describes what is against the law and tells recipients that they must notify her Office within 14 days of receiving the letter if they have broken the law. Recipients are told that “failure to report is against the law and could result in prosecution and jail time.”

While ACLU-TN’s letter clearly states that the Inspector General Office must make every effort to ensure that TennCare recipients abide by the rules and regulations of the program, ACLU-TN raises concerns that the Office fails to respect the rights afforded TennCare recipients by the Tennessee and United States Constitutions.

ACLU-TN Executive Director Hedy Weinberg wrote to Ms. Faulkner, “Your letter demands that recipients report their own criminal behavior to your office, which is charged with conducting criminal investigations. Under both the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, section 9 of the Tennessee Constitution, an individual cannot be compelled to provide incriminating information against himself. Your letter does not acknowledge such constitutional guarantees, much less inform the recipient that they have these protections and instruct them how they can exercise them.”

In addition, ACLU-TN notes that the letter sent by Ms Faulkner is silent about the recipient’s right to due process. “As you know, the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, section 8 of the Tennessee Constitution both provide the right to due process to TennCare recipients. The affirmative obligation TennCare recipients have to report certain information requires them to report to DHS, not to the Office of the Inspector General. Your letter does not indicate what due process measures will be afforded recipients who report this information to your office," Weinberg wrote.

ACLU-TN asks the Inspector General’s Office to promptly notify them of the actions that will be taken to clarify the Office's position and what remedies they will take to notify TennCare recipients' of their constitutional rights. In the letter, Weinberg asks that the Inspector General clarify 1) what information the Office may legally compel from the recipients; what the Office intends to do with such information; and what procedures will be used to address any self-reported fraud or other criminal behavior.

- 30 -