Fraudsters Used Dead People’s Identities, Stolen SSNs, Other Scams to Collect Billions in Medicaid, Food Stamps, Report Finds

In this The Daily Signal article, Fred Lucas reports on a Foundation for Government Accountability study revealing widespread identity fraud in Medicaid and food stamps, including use of stolen SSNs and dead people’s identities to collect billions.

• Fraudsters exploited lack of identity verification, with one SSN tied to 15 employers across 14 states in three months.
• Food stamp programs showed over 1 million instances of duplicate enrollment, deceased individuals, dummy SSNs, and no SSN, costing over $2.2 billion.
• Medicaid improper payments approach $1 trillion annually, with one in five dollars spent improperly.
• States like Arkansas and New Jersey found tens of thousands of high-risk identities in their rolls.
• Recommendations include federal identity verification, regular checks against death records, and holding states accountable.
• The One Big Beautiful Bill Act paused some Biden-era rules and requires SSN checks to combat fraud.

Read the full story:
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/17/fraudsters-used-dead-peoples-identities-stolen-ssns-other-scams-to-collect-billions-in-medicaid-food-stamps-report-finds/