Report Claims Identity Fraud Costs Welfare Programs Billions

The Foundation for Government Accountability released a report stating that fraudsters use stolen Social Security numbers and the identities of deceased individuals to collect millions of dollars from Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

A review of roughly half of state food stamp programs revealed more than one million instances of fraud, including dummy Social Security numbers and duplicate enrollments. These activities resulted in estimated costs exceeding $2.2 billion. In one cited case, a single Social Security number was linked to 15 employers across 14 states in just three months.

The organization attributes these losses to a lack of federal requirements for states to verify applicant identities before enrollment. The report claims that implementing federal identity verification for welfare applicants would save an estimated $29 billion over a 10-year budget window.