(Jan. 23, 2024) – Today, the House Commerce, Labor, and Economic Development Committee held a joint discussion with the House Welfare Reform Committee for a briefing on welfare, fraud and the workforce.

The committee received a presentation on fraud from Sam Adolphsen, policy director, the Foundation for Government Accountability. Adoplsen highlighted:

• Kansas food stamp enrollment – 187,000
• Food stamp spending – $416 million
• Kansas Medicaid enrollment – 465,000
• Kansas Medicaid spending – $5.591 billion
• Medicaid Error Rate
  • National error rate: 20 percent – $80 billion in fraud and waste
  • 87 percent is due to the lack of documentation and "eligibility errors"
  • In Kansas, the Medicaid error rate is 27.8 percent; 99 percent is eligibility-related errors
• Medicaid – "Fraud by Design"
  • Banning redeterminations for years and requiring states to carry ineligible individuals
  • Elimination of asset tests
  • Presumptive eligibility expansions
  • "Self-attestation" accepted
  • Pre-populating forms
  • No interviews or follow-up on applications
• Food Stamps – "Fraud by Design"
  • Waivers from face-to-face interviews
  • "Zero income" applications required to be rushed without verifying
  • A standard of conviction for fraud and cooperation is not required
  • Retailers can use EBT cards in their stores
  • Food and Nutrition Services control retailer authorization
  • The state doesn't get to keep enough of the overpayments
• Truly Needy – 7,700 people
• 86,000 businesses