Improper Food Stamp Payments Hit $2.6 Billion

Improper Food Stamp Payments Hit $2.6 Billion

by Caroline May 6 Jul 2016

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/07/06/iimproper-food-stamp-payments-hit-2-6-billion/

A single-digit error rate might look good on paper, but for federal programs with budgets hovering around 70 billion even a relatively low improper payment rate has high dollar consequences.

A Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday reveals that the improper food stamp — or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — payments made in fiscal year 2014 totaled $2.6 billion, or 3.66 percent of all payments. The report reads:

[F]or the most recent 10 years for which there are SNAP improper payment rate estimates available (for benefits paid in fiscal years 2005–2014), the national SNAP improper payment rate, combining both overpayments and underpayments, has declined or stayed the same in all but fiscal year 2014. For benefits paid in fiscal year 2014—the most recent year for which data are available—the rate increased to 3.66 percent from a low of 3.20 percent in fiscal year 2013.

While the error rate appears low, the billion dollar consequences mean that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated food stamps as a high-error program.

“We have reported that Medicaid, [Supplemental Security Income], and the [Earned Income Tax Credit], together with SNAP, comprise almost two-thirds of federal low-income obligations,” GAO explains. “These programs for low-income individuals, along with SNAP, are included in the federal government’s Payment Accuracy website list of programs with high improper payments reported to OMB.”

As GAO details, SNAP improper payments are due to both administrative and recipient error or fraud. In FY 2013, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that administers the program, estimated that 62.44 percent of errors were due to errors by state agencies and 37.27 percent were errors or fraud attributable to recipients.

“According to a September 2012 USDA [Office of Inspector General] report, the magnitude of program abuse due to recipient fraud is unknown because states do not have uniform ways of compiling the data that would provide such information,” the report reads.

Specifically, the accountability agency found that states’ varying food stamp policies and improper payment calculation methodology had an impact on the error rates. GAO reports:

For example, when states adopted available policy flexibilities that simplified or lessened participant reporting requirements, these changes reduced the opportunity for error and led to a decline in the improper payment rate, according to a USDA study. Conversely, other changes may have led to an increase in the improper payment rate. USDA cited the change from only counting errors over $50 in the rate to counting all errors over $37 as a key factor in an increase in the rate in fiscal year 2014.

Additionally, while USDA and the states GAO sampled have made efforts to combat food stamp abuse there remain limitations, according to GAO.

“[A]lthough USDA had increased its oversight of state anti-fraud activities since fiscal year 2011, GAO found that USDA did not have consistent and reliable data on states’ activities because its reporting guidance lacked specificity,” the report reads. “This limited USDA’s ability to monitor states and find more effective ways to combat recipient fraud.”

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

Christopher Edley Jr. was an associate director for economics & government for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society.

Note: Open Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society. 

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank). 

Ramona E. Romero was a director at the American Constitution Society, and is the general counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Maria Echaveste was a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, William J. Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, and married to Christopher Edley Jr.

Christopher Edley Jr. is married to American Constitution Society, and was an associate director for economics & government for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Preeta Bansal was a general counsel & senior policy adviser for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and is a fellow at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Daniel R. Glickman is a director of the Congressional Program for the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was the agriculture secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the William J. Clinton administration.

James M. Manyika is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a director at McKinsey & Company.

Chelsea V. Clinton was an employee at McKinsey & Company, and is the vice chair for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

McKinsey & Company was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Beth F. Cobert is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, and a deputy director for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Eric Braverman was a partner at McKinsey & Company, and the CEO for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

William J. Clinton is the founder of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and was the president of the William J. Clinton administration.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was a director at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the First lady for the William J. Clinton administration, a secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration, and a friend of Tom Vilsack.

Tom Vilsack is a friend of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s friend, and the secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the Barack Obama administration.

Barack Obama is the president for the Barack Obama administration, and was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.   

Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Faith Elizabeth Gay was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP, and is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society.

Christopher Edley Jr. is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, and was an associate director for economics & government for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Thomas A. Scully was an associate director for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and an administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Sylvia Mathews Burwell is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was a director at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), William J. Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, and an associate at McKinsey & Company.

McKinsey & Company was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Beth F. Cobert is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, and a deputy director for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Chelsea V. Clinton was an employee at McKinsey & Company, and is the vice chair for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Daniel R. Glickman is a director of the Congressional Program for the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was the agriculture secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the William J. Clinton administration.

James M. Manyika is a director at McKinsey & Company, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Preeta Bansal is a fellow at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was a general counsel & senior policy adviser for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Christopher Edley Jr. was an associate director for economics & government for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and is married to American Constitution Society.

Ramona E. Romero was a director at the American Constitution Society, and is the general counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Christopher Edley Jr. is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, and was an associate director for economics & government for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Faith Elizabeth Gay is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, and was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and is the president for the Barack Obama administration.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.   

Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Dora Hughes is a senior policy adviser for Sidley Austin LLP, and was Kathleen Sebelius’s counselor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Kathleen Sebelius’s counselor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was Dora Hughes, and was the secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the Barack Obama administration.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Tommy G. Thompson was a secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP.

Daniel R. Glickman was a senior adviser at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, the agriculture secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the William J. Clinton administration, and is a director of the Congressional Program for the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Valerie B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2013/12/commercial-club-of-chicago-members.html

James S. Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the vice chairman for the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Lester Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).   

Daniel R. Glickman is a director of the Congressional Program for the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was the agriculture secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the William J. Clinton administration.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Dora Hughes is a senior policy adviser for Sidley Austin LLP, and was Kathleen Sebelius’s counselor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Kathleen Sebelius’s counselor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was Dora Hughes, and was the secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the Barack Obama administration.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).