Moser

Chris Moser
Rogers
US Gov Period 4
October 25th, 2016
Welfare FSP Fraud Reduction

Over the last couple years, billions of taxpayers dollars has been lost, due to identity
fraud and illegitimate transactions revolving around the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), or more commonly known as the the Food Stamp program (FSP). According
to the USDA Agency Financial Report, in 2013 of the $74.6 billion spent on the Food Stamp
program, an overall $2.6 billion was spent on improper food stamp payments. Millions worth of
Medicaid benefits have been dealt out to dead or duplicate identities due to inadequate eligibility
review, a large number of false reported income levels has cost us millions, and corrupt retailers
and FSP recipients have been caught illegally trafficking food stamps all across the nation. These
blatant examples of wasteful spending and lackluster monitoring by the states, threaten the longterm stability of government sanctioned welfare programs, and will continue to if not dealt with
concise and premeditated action. All states must implement enhanced data-matching technology
in order that citizens receiving benefits must be further screened upon first receiving benefits,
regularly reviewed for their eligibility within their programs, and be prosecuted with force when
found abusing and scamming the system.
States must do a more complete job screening initial welfare benefit users, using
enhanced data-matching technology paired with biometric fingerprint technology, that would
enable them to verify and crosscheck income, residency, identity, employment, citizenship
status and other important eligibility criteria (Ribali). When fraudulent or convicting data is

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found , states can suspend eligibility from welfare recipients until the discrepancies are resolved
and applicants are given a fair opportunity to come forward with sufficient evidence to restablish
their eligibility. A more rigorous screening practice could prevent incidents such as when in
2013 Arkansas payed millions in benefits to Medicaid enrollees who were also receiving
ObamaCare assistance (Brown). By cross checking applicants to a database using new data
matching technology, Arkansas could have saved taxpayer dollars and been sure they were
giving financial assistance only citizens truly eligible. People applying with duplicate applicants
has been a rising issue, but in certain cities who have implemented forms of advanced
identification, there has been success in cracking down on these crimes. In New York,
implemented biometric fingerprint identification helped identify 1,900 cases of duplicate
applicants and saved almost $5.3 million in that year alone (Hays). Biometric fingerprint
identification has proven to be a valuable deterrent to duplicate identity fraud, and has found
success across the board within cities enacting such policies. These cases of blatant fraud are
costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, and must be cut down drastically. The states
have a responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are not being wasted, especially when very
limited resources are being stolen away from those in poverty and into the hands of fraudsters
and criminals.
Citizens that are receiving benefits from government sanctioned welfare programs must
be regularly reviewed for eligibility using data-matching technology, in order to cut down on
fraud involving falsely reported income and receiving payments for a deceased person. The need
for implementation of such data-matching technology in order to regularly review for eligibility,
is obvious, as it was reported in 2013 that Illinoiss Medicaid program paid more than $12
million in improper payments made on behalf of enrollees who had died years earlier (Sikich).

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Between 15 and 20 percent of Medicaid cases were overdue for an annual review, a review
that could have helped identify the improper payments to deceased Illinois citizens (Sikich). It is
clear if states continue to be ineffective in maintaining routine regulation of welfare recipients,
the fraud and financial abuse will continue. The largest welfare program in America, Medicaid,
has been listed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office as particularly vulnerable to
fraud, waste, abuse and improper payments (Kathleen). A welfare program as massive and
beneficial as Medicaid to the United States must be closely monitored to prevent such
catastrophe. Several states have already instituted proactive audit reforms involving welfare
applicants, and it is essential that every state in America follows suit. By merely matching
applicants to other existing state databases, it has been proven successful in identifying welfare
recipients who had drastically underreported their income levels or have produced other
fraudulent claims. By making sure that people receiving benefits are regularly checked on, hard
earned taxpayer dollars will be saved.
Citizens caught abusing the welfare system by means of fraud and other illegitimate
activities, must must be prosecuted with force in order to ensure the long-term stability of the
welfare system. Current technology does not possess the capability to detect fraud in the manner
it should. The trafficking of food stamps is no small crime, as the extreme case in Georgia has
proven. According to a statement released by the FBI, Dozens of suspects were involved in
funneling approximately $18 million worth of food stamps through grocery and convenience
stores throughout Georgia. These people were stealing millions from the government for
months before they were found, an amount of time we cannot afford again. Implementing
improved data-matching technology will enhance the abilities to detect fraud within the welfare
system. If an individual has committed fraud in one public program they will be removed from

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all government support. The laws today are far too lenient as an individual who would rather
avoid both a hearing and a possible criminal charge may elect to waive the disqualification
hearing (Mayer). That means a person or retailer who has been found guilty of fraud by the
government can simply elect to turn away the charges, which merely results in loss of welfare
benefits. More direct and harmful penalties will result in less corrupt retailers across the nation,
as they won't want to risk it. It is important to maintain that a part of the government as big as the
welfare system is well attended to, as The U.S. welfare system is comprised of over 70 meanstested aid programs (Mayer), and holds billions of the nation's investment. If we fail to improve
and police the system we currently have installed within our welfare system, the corruption will
only grow, thus further weakening the system.
People arguing against this bill may reason that enforcing advanced data matching
technology such as biometric fingerprint imaging may deter legitimate participants from
retrieving their benefits due to concerns of privacy, or that it is financially too costly to fully
enact this bill. The idea that a person's privacy will be infringed is completely inaccurate, as the
technology is used to identify people, and verify public information that the person is claiming to
be true. Bloomberg, a New York city official states, Privacy is taken very seriously, and
fingerprinting acts as a mere deterrent for fraud (Cohen). The cost for implementing
infrastructure and centralized equipment to enact this bill may be costly, but one must think of
the long picture. Over the years billions of taxpayers dollars will be saved in compared to the few
hundred million it will take to make this bill work. $2.6 billion worth of improper SNAP
payments were made during 2013, and even if one third of that was eliminated, that is saving
over $700 million in one year (Lewit), and has already compensated for the cost of enacting this
bill.

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If we are to put an end to the endless corruption and frauds surrounding our welfare
system, we must make sure all states implement enhanced data-matching technology so that
citizens receiving benefits can be further screened upon first receiving benefits, regularly
reviewed for their eligibility within their programs, and be prosecuted with force when found
abusing and scamming the system. The corruption seen in the welfare system should concern
United States citizens immensely as it has been proven by this paper that without change, billions
of dollars will continue to drain from our nation as those trapped in poverty continue to slip away
into desolation as criminals and fraudulents enjoy illegitimate wealth. . We must vote to enact
this bill immediately and gather our trusted colleagues in an attempt to help them see the light.
This looming issue in our society today cannot be ignored. Vote to pass this bill now.

Works Cited

"Fifty-Four Defendants Charged in $18 Million WIC and Food Stamp Fraud Conspiracy." FBI.
FBI, 10 June 2014. Web. 26 Oct.2016.<https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/fieldoffices/atlanta/news/press-releases/fifty-four-defendants-charged-in-18-million-wic-andfood-stamp-fraud-conspiracy>.

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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicaid improper payment report: FY 2010,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2012), http://www.cms.gov/ResearchStatistics-Data-and-Systems/Monitoring-Programs/Medicaid-andCHIPCompliance/PERM/Downloads/2010_long_version.pdf.
Sikich LLP, State of Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services compliance
examination and financial audit for 2013,Illinois Office of the Auditor General (2014),
http://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Compliance-Agency-List/DHFS/FY13DHFS-Fin-Comp-Full.pdf.
Kathleen M. King et al., Medicare and Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse: Effective
implementation of recent laws and agency actions could help reduce improper
payments, U.S. Government Accountability Office (2011), http://www.gao.
gov/assets/130/125646.pdf.
"USDA Agency Financial Report - Fiscal Year 2013." (2013): n. pag. Web.
<http://www.usda.gov/documents/usda-fy13-agency-financial-report.pdf>.
Brown, Edmund. "Welfare Fraud Stories." Welfare Fraud Stories. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.cdss.ca.gov/fraud/PG270.htm>.
Ribali, Kristina. "Preventing Welfare Fraud." The Foundation for Government Accountability.
N.p., n.d. Web.
Lewit, Eugene; Terman, Donna; Behrman, Richard (1997). "Children and Poverty: Analysis and
recommendations" (PDF). The Future of Children.
Zuckerman, Diana (2000). "Welfare Reform in America: A Clash of Politics and Research".
Journal of Social Issues. National Research Center for Women and Families
Hays, Sharon (2004). Flat Broke with Children: Women in the Age of Welfare Reform. Oxford
University Press
Gustafson, Kaaryn S. Cheating Welfare: Public Assistance and the Criminalization of Poverty.
New York: New York UP, 2011. Print.
Mayer, Watson. "Food Stamps Exchanged For Drugs, Weapons, Contraband - Judicial Watch."
Judicial Watch Food Stamps Exchanged For Drugs Weapons Contraband Comments
Cohen, Rick (10 April 2014). "10 States Enforce Lifetime Food Stamp Bans for Drug-Related
Felonies". Nonprofit Quarterly