The federal government switched to EBT to phase out food stamps.
Since 2004, the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) was introduced. This program allows for benefits to be put into a retailer account to be used as a debit card. The individual then uses the card, subtracting the amount that has been deposit with each use. You are not expected to use the amount deposited at once.The switch was made to save the government money by eliminating the cost of printing coupons. Also, the funds would be available immediately to the recipients instead of having to wait for food stamps to be delivered by mail. The EBT also helps to reduce theft.
Retailers decide if they want to participate in EBT.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average amount deposited into an EBT account was $125 in 2015.
Glassdoor
A stranger picked up a receipt from Save-A-Lot in Liberty, Kentucky.
Recipients can only use their EBT cards to purchase food and non-alcoholic beverages. But it wasn't what the individual bought that was shocking but rather the balance on the individual's account.
The customer spent $38.85.
The balance, however, was $5583.42. The person who found the receipt took a photo of it and posted it on social media.
This brought a lot of mixed emotions saying this balance doesn't tell the whole story.
The Food and Nutrition Service, a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), allows recipients to carry a balance.
The account must remain active in order to carry a balance.
The EBT account as to be used at least once during a 12-month period. Again, there is no cap on the amount that you can carry over from month to month.
Another receipt was posted on Facebook in 2015.
The post had the caption "When you figure it out, comment your thoughts WITHOUT giving it away." The balance on this receipt was $15,464.
Facebook
There have been a lot of online outrage over these receipts.
The Station Kiro7 in Washington ran a story in which a grocery store employee began to collect receipts of EBT recipients. The woman went by the alias Alice.
The woman said she saw balances upwards of $8,000 to $10,000.
"Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong in the system, that these people are getting this much money on their EBT card," Alice told the TV station.
The report suggested people are accruing high balances because they are no longer needing assistance.
Nonetheless, the USDA requires folks to report changes of income every six months. They are also required to re-certify their eligibility every 12 months.
Liberty News
The exception to confirm being eligible yearly are elderly and those living with a disability.
Those who do not report a change of income are required to re-pay the overpayment.
A spokesperson for the USDA told Snopes that there are 1,783 households in the country that have a balance of $2,500 or higher.
"That represents 0.00008 percent of the 22,436,441 households nationwide in the same month," the statement said. "It’s actually 0.008%, but even if the shopper in Liberty, Kentucky happened to be one of the less than 1 percent of households with a EBT balance over $2,500, the balance in and of itself doesn’t represent 'abuse.'"
