As Doge's efforts change to eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in social welfare programs such as SNAP, Social Security and Medicaid. Drill down The podcast welcomes nationally recognized experts to discover how these programs are full of fraud.
Andrew McClenahan is, among other things, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Committee. United Council on Welfare Fraudand investigated fraud with the Food Stamp Program. This includes one bust that halted a $100 million fraud scheme in South Florida a few years ago. The group consists of welfare fraud investigators from all states.
In 2018, GAI released a Report About fraud in SNAP programs using McClenahan as source. Among other things, the report even found that funds stolen from the SNAP program were being sent overseas to terrorists in Yemen and Somali. It documented how criminals filmed a program that set up false grocery and farm positions with the aim of laundry funding from EBT cards loaded monthly with SNAP program funds.
The bad news is that nothing has been done to curb fraud. The good news is that Doge seems to be listening and learning fast now.
“Elon Musk cited the statistics that half a trillion dollars are $5 trillion,” McClellahan told host Eric Eggers. “According to GAO's own figures, fraudulent payments can range from $230 billion to $520 million. [social welfare] A complete program. So if you look at it, the money is there. ”
“Whose job is to identify and increase fraudulent spending governments? How was the federal government's response when you and people like you raise these cases?” asks the egg.
“It was 'denial, denial, denial'. “Before my current role, I implemented Florida's public support efforts and program integrity, and when I exposed some of the worst scams in the history of the program, I said, “Yeah, fraud is a Florida issue.”
Eggers notes that not only did the federal government wipe out the issue under the rug, but also rewarded artificially low fraud rates, as Gai reports show.
“Up to the 2018 Farm Bill, the state will receive bonuses to expand its program and guide more recipients to public support,” McClellahan added.
It is even said that there are even organized crimes in Romania I was involved EBT card fraud. In Minnesota, the Hawaras network (an informal Middle Eastern wire transfer system) reportedly allowed funds obtained from EBT scams to be wired to Somali terrorist groups.
Tracking fraud with programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP is not the same as “reducing benefits,” as Elon Musk and the Trump administration have tried to highlight. Political, Democrats see a potential wedge issue when many Americans can persuade them that their profits will be reduced. That was why, for example, Texas Democrat Al Greene cried out to President Trump in his recent speech to Congress that was condemned the following day.
Fraud is always a problem in government social welfare programs. Organizations like McClenahan consist of overwhelming, understaffed national welfare fraud investigators, the task of eradicating it. He argues that the federal government's inadequate approach to stop fraudulent amounts leads to “payments and tracking,” suggesting that instead the government should “suspend and look into it.”
The main issue he saw is the practice of “self-proof.” This means that welfare recipients say they are eligible and prove the number of people living in their homes. “They run basically in the honor system,” he says.
Government record keepings are also under scrutiny, as Musk and his Doge investigators pointed out. The Social Security system has shown that it rolls millions of people with dates of birth more than 120 years ago. “The problem is that there is no ID verification in the 'Death Master File',” says McClenahan. “It's outdated. It's just an example of a lack of government accuracy.”
Despite federal funding, many of these programs are governed by the state. And, as McClenahan has said from experience, “The Fed will throw away the trash in the state and then complain about the smell.”
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