Dauphin News

Senator Camera Bartolotta has endorsed the Senate's approval of three legislative measures aimed at curbing waste, fraud, and abuse within Pennsylvania’s Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medical Assistance program (Medicaid). These bills hold the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) accountable for ensuring taxpayer dollars are used appropriately in public assistance programs.

Bartolotta stated, "The cases of people who are no longer living still receiving state benefits are unacceptable – taxpayers deserve better. These three bills will help prevent fraud like this from occurring."

Senate Bill 155 addresses the issue of deceased individuals receiving benefits by mandating that DHS cross-reference death certificates from the Bureau of Vital Statistics with public assistance recipients. A previous state audit revealed that 2,324 deceased recipients received $700,000 in benefits over a year.

Senate Bill 156 proposes that DHS conduct quarterly comparisons between wage records from employers and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue with those on public assistance to detect fraudulent claims. Between 2019 and 2023, the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General filed over 2,900 criminal complaints related to welfare fraud, amounting to more than $15 million in restitution owed.

Senate Bill 157 seeks to update the Public Assistance Integrity Act by requiring DHS to produce an annual report on efforts to ensure lottery winners do not receive cash benefits. This act was originally passed as a bipartisan effort in 2018 to close a loophole regarding lottery winnings not being considered income when assessing benefit eligibility.

These bills will now proceed to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for further consideration.