Nature and Extent of Fraud and Abuse

Fraud and abuse in the Food Stamp Program generally occurs in the form of either overpayments to food stamp recipients or trafficking. Overpayments occur when ineligible persons are provided food stamps, as well as when eligible persons are provided more than they are entitled to receive. In 1996, the latest year for which data are available, the states overpaid recipients an estimated $1.5 billion, or 7 percent of the approximately $22 billion in food stamps issued. It should also be noted that recipient and caseworker errors can result in underpayments. According to FNS’ data, food stamp recipients were underpaid by about $518 million in fiscal year 1996. Federal regulations prohibit prisoners from participating in the Food Stamp Program. Regarding trafficking—the second main area of fraud and abuse in the Food Stamp Program—a 1995 FNS study estimated that up to $815 million,or about 4 percent of the food stamps issued, was exchanged for cash by authorized retailers during fiscal year 1993. Data on the extent to which food stamps are exchanged between individuals prior to reaching authorized retailers are unavailable. In our March 1998 report on food stamp trafficking, conducted at your request, Mr. Chairman, we found that retail store owners and retail store clerks share almost equal responsibility for the food stamp trafficking problem. Large Number of Participants and Administrative Processes Make Program Susceptible to Fraud and Abuse

The Food Stamp Program is inherently susceptible to some level of fraud and abuse because of the sheer number of program participants (about 23 million in fiscal year 1997), the basic approach used to determine a household’s eligibility and benefit amount, and the process used to authorize and monitor a sufficient number of retailers to accept food stamps. Federal and state officials agree that food stamps have essentially become a second currency exchanged by some recipients for cash or non-food items. While these efforts have been useful in reducing fraud and abuse, we believe that FNS could achieve even greater success by taking a leading role in promoting the use and sharing of automated information by state agencies. FNS can further expand on its recent successes in reducing overpayments by actively encouraging the states to identify ways to use computerized information to verify information provided by applicants and to encourage states to share their techniques and information with each other.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed fraud and abuse in the Food Stamp Program, focusing on the: (1) nature and extent of the problem; (2) reasons it often goes undetected; and (3) ways computerized information can be used to identify and reduce it.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) fraud and abuse in the Food Stamp Program generally occurs in the form of either overpayments to food stamp recipients or trafficking; (2) overpayments occur when ineligible persons are provided food stamps, as well as when eligible persons are provided more than they are entitled to receive; (3) overpayments are caused by inadvertent and intentional errors made by recipients and errors made by state caseworkers; (4) the latest available information indicates that overpayments in 1996 totalled about $1.5 billion, or about 7 percent of the food stamp benefits issued that year; (5) errors also result in underpayments; in fiscal year 1996, such underpayments totalled about $518 million; (6) with regard to trafficking, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that in 1993 about $815 million in food stamps, approximately 4 percent of the food stamps issued, were traded for cash at retail stores; (7) no one knows the extent of trafficking between individuals before the food stamps are redeemed at authorized retailers; (8) participation in the Food Stamp Program by ineligible recipients occurs, and often goes undetected, because the information used to determine a household's eligibility and benefit amount for the program is not always accurate; (9) state agencies that administer the program determine household membership on the basis of unverified information provided by food stamp applicants; (10) food stamp trafficking takes place when recipients collaborate with unscrupulous retailers to convert food stamp benefits to cash or other non-food items; (11) these retailers make a profit by giving the recipients a discounted cash payment for the stamps, then redeeming the stamps at full face value to the government; (12) while USDA has reduced the overpayment rate in recent years, further reductions could result if food stamp rolls were matched against computerized information held by various sources; (13) computer matching provides a cost-effective mechanism to accurately and independently identify ineligible participants; (14) some states already conduct data matching programs; (15) by taking a leading role in promoting the use and sharing of information among federal and state agencies, USDA can enhance the states' effectiveness in identifying ineligible participants and reducing overpayments; and (16) in addition, the congressionally mandated use of electronic benefit transfers, while not the answer to eliminating all fraud, has the potential to reduce trafficking by providing an electronic trail of transactions.