Lawmakers propose additional eligibility checks for SNAP and Medicaid

A pair of Ohio bills introduced Wednesday would require additional eligibility checks for people receiving food stamp benefits or health insurance through Medicaid.

Currently, enrollees in Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps, must notify program officials when their income changes.

Senate Bill 96 and House Bill 119 would require state officials to perform to quarterly eligibility checks against several state and federal databases and expand the data used in those checks. Applicants would also be asked personal and financial history questions to verify their identity.

The goal is to identify people who become ineligible through a pay raise or other life change and don’t immediately report it, said Sen. Bill Coley, a Southwest Ohio Republican sponsoring the Senate bill.

Recipient data would be crosschecked with real estate records, tax records, state lottery winnings, state residency data, other public assistance programs, incarceration records and immigration status reports, under the bill.

Red flags would be reported to local program officials, who would then investigate. Recipients would be notified in writing and have 10 days to respond to the allegations before the state denies an application or suspends benefits.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services already checks most of the types of data outlined in the bill, said spokesman Jon Keeling.

“The state takes allegations of public assistance fraud very seriously,” Keeling said. “We currently use a number of automated checks that ensure benefit eligibility is essentially tracked year-round.”

In addition to annual redeterminations, the department is regularly notified of changes in eligibility from several state and federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration and State Wage Information Collection Agency. He said counties can access state Bureau of Motor Vehicle records and a private human resources employment verification service to verify and applicant’s identity.

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Food Banks, said SNAP has one of the lowest error and fraud rates of any federal program and stiff penalties can be imposed for violating program rules.

Neither Coley nor House bill sponsors Reps. Mike Henne of Clayton, and Robert McColley of Napoleon could say how much money the quarterly checks would cost or would be recovered with the quarterly checks.

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