Indiana Senate Democrats filed six amendments Tuesday bill aimed at tackling welfare fraud, which is a Senate Republican priority, but all of their amendments failed.
Senate Bill 1, authored by State Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, was filed to prevent fraud and contain state spending on welfare programs because “Americans are outraged by the billions of dollars of welfare fraud in our nation — and the Minnesota scandal is Exhibit A,” according to a press release.
Minnesota has been under the spotlight for years for Medicaid fraud, including a massive $300 million pandemic fraud case involving the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors said it was the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud scam and that defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program intended to provide food for children.
In 2022, during President Joe Biden’s administration, 47 people were charged. The number of defendants has grown to 78 throughout the ongoing investigation. So far, 57 people have been convicted, either because they pleaded guilty or lost at trial.
In news interviews and press releases over the summer, then-federal prosecutor Joe Thompson estimated the total loss from all fraud cases could exceed $1 billion. Thompson left the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota last week over the way the investigation of the Jan. 7 shooting of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross is being handled, according to the New York Times and Minnesota Star-Tribune.
The 24-page bill will end the state’s participation in the use of expanded categorical eligibility within the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, set gross income standards and countable resources for SNAP eligibility, and establish immigration eligibility requirements for SNAP.
Undocumented immigrants are already ineligible for SNAP. The only non-citizens who may qualify are lawful permanent residents, or Green card holders; asylees; and other legal residents under temporary protected status, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
State Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, filed two amendments: one for the state to fully fund the state’s portion of SNAP administrative costs and for the state to establish a program to feed school-aged children over the summer.
The fiscal note of Senate Bill 1 estimates that potentially up to 3,000 families would have to be redetermined to see if they can remain on SNAP, Qaddoura said. Currently, the state has to pay up to 50% of the administrative costs, and that will increase to 75%, he said.
“This measure is extremely necessary for Indiana to continue to fund the SNAP program in the state of Indiana so that those who are eligible could continue to receive those benefits,” Qaddoura said.
Qaddoura also filed an amendment for the state to establish its own SUN Bucks program, a federal program that ensures school-aged children receive food over the summer, for the summer of 2026 because the state didn’t apply to the program for this year. Then, the amendment would require the state to apply to the federal SUN Bucks program for 2027.
“We used to be a donor state to the federal government. Meaning, our tax dollars that we pay to the federal government they go, if we don’t use it, they will take it and spend it in different states. It’s helpful for us to leverage those dollars and bring them back to Indiana,” Qaddoura said.
State Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, filed four amendments on the Medicaid portion of the bill: two amendments addressing criteria for being medically frail, requiring FSSA to provide Medicaid information on its website, and defining rehabilitation programs as eligible for Medicaid.
Garten, the bill author, spoke against each amendment. All of the amendments failed.
Under the bill, a SNAP applicant’s immigration status can’t be verified, the applicant’s information will be “immediately referred to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for investigation and potential deportation proceedings,” Garten said in a release.
Senate Bill 1 also establishes the time frame for Medicaid eligibility redeterminations, and requires the secretary of family and social services to transmit certain information to the federal government to prevent multiple state Medicaid enrollment.
The bill further sets income requirements for Medicaid, and modifies immigration status requirements for Medicaid, including presumptive eligibility, including an increase to 80 hours of work or volunteering per month, and the Healthy Indiana Plan, and requires the office to verify compliance of the requirements and report information to the federal government.
Under HIP, the bill modifies work and exemption requirements and requires the conditions to be met in the three preceding months before an individual applies. The bill directs the Secretary of Family and Social Services to verify compliance with the work requirements on an ongoing basis and at least quarterly.
Senate Bill 1 removes the 12-month eligibility period for HIP and requires semiannual renewal, and it sets an additional copayment for the use of an emergency room for nonemergency services and other services under HIP.
The Senate Appropriations Committee amended the bill last week to include that candy and soft drinks can’t be purchased with SNAP benefits. The amendment further establishes the Indiana Rural Health Transformation Fund.
The bill moves forward for final consideration by the Senate.
