Morristown Dentist Indicted For TennCare Fraud

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On Jul. 9, 2013, a federal grand jury in Greeneville returned an indictment against Gary Dean Stump, D.M.D., 57, of Bean Station, Tenn., charging him with health care fraud for submitting false claims to TennCare’s program for dental services to children, TennDent.

Stump appeared in court on Jul. 15, 2013 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis H. Inman and pleaded not guilty. He was released pending trial, which has been set for Sept. 16, 2013, in U.S. District Court, in Greeneville, Tennessee, before the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, U.S. District Court Judge.

According to the indictment on file with the U.S. District Court, Stump, a dentist practicing in Morristown, Tenn., submitted false claims to TennCare’s TennDent program between August 2011 and August 2012. TennCare is the State of Tennessee’s Medicaid health care benefit program for the indigent. TennCare contracts with Delta Dental to manage TennCare’s dental benefits for TennCare recipients under the age of 21 through a program called TennDent. Under TennDent, children can receive comprehensive dental services as medically necessary from participating dentists. The dentists then submit claims to Delta Dental for reimbursement for the services provided.

The indictment alleges that Stump submitted false claims to TennDent for nitrous oxide analgesia, making false notations on patient treatment records that the analgesia had been provided when it had not. Stump is also alleged to have submitted false claims for reimbursement for other dental services and procedures not provided, including crowns, root canals, and dentures. Stump received approximately $11,000 in reimbursement to which he was not entitled.

If convicted, Stump faces a term of 20 years in prison on each of the 18 counts as well as fines of up to $250,000 on each count and three years of supervised release.

This indictment is the result of an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Smith will represent the United States.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment constitutes only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.