Virginia faces $270M penalty over food benefits errors: 'Feds never paid attention before'
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Virginia officials are racing to reduce errors in the state's food benefits program to avoid paying a $270 million annual penalty if improvements aren't made.
The state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) error rate currently sits at 11.5%, well above the 6% threshold that would avoid federal penalties, according to Kevin Erskine, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services.
Virginia distributes about $1.8 billion in SNAP benefits annually.
Starting October 1, 2027, states will be required to match up to 15% of costs based on their payment error rates.
"This is not a fraud issue really," Erskine said.
Most of the errors involve overpayment of benefits, he explained.
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