USDA says it overpaid 10% of food stamp benefits in 2022 as program doubled from 2019

"Largely due to unintentional mistakes" by the government or households, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it overpaid Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in 10% of cases, The Washington Times reports.

The government either wrongly determined households were eligible for the program better known as food stamps or overestimated how much they were due, while 2% were deemed underpayments. The total rate of under- and overpayments was lower before the COVID-19 pandemic: 7.4% in 2019 and 6.8% in 2018.

States varied widely in how accurate their payments were, with Alaska the worst at overpayment with 57% and South Dakota the best at under 3%.

The program has also doubled since 2019, reaching $113.9 billion from $55.6 billion. It now covers 41 million Americans with an average payment of $230 per month.

The Government Accountability Office also released figures Friday of overpayment across the federal government in fiscal 2022, $247 billion, while cautioning the figure is an estimate because the government cannot "determine the full extent to which improper payments occur."