Kentucky has kicked people off food benefits using data that doesn't tell the full story

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SYLVIA GOODMAN
Updated 5:37 AM CDT, September 30, 2025

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A single mother who relied on federal food assistance lost her benefits in 2020 after Kentucky investigators concluded she’d committed fraud.

The state alleged she had made multiple same-day purchases, tried to overdraw her account a few times, entered a few invalid PINs and sometimes made “whole-dollar” purchases that are unlikely during typical grocery runs.

The woman from Salyersville in Appalachian Kentucky had an explanation: She worked at the store. She would sometimes buy lunch there and then get groceries after work. Her child would also occasionally use her card.

An administrative hearing officer kicked her off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) regardless, based solely on the allegedly suspicious shopping pattern. She sued — and won.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/food-benefits-kentucky-fraud-investigation-snap-1d52c57bd83fec4cc2bf9ba6f822179f

[Gimpyknee]

1. Good for her!

[PatSeg]

2. Nice to hear some good news!

[progressoid]

3. Imagine how many more people are going to get stripped of help in the next year or two.

And this took 5 years to litigate.

[rubbersole]

4. Can't be denyin' them billionaires that big ol' fat tax cut they so rich-ly deserve.

Fuck 'em. Fuck 'em all.

[Aristus]

5. If she, or any of the others who are going to lose their benefits, voted Republican,

I'm not sure how much sympathy I'm supposed to feel for them. Their children, sure; they shouldn't have to suffer; no children should.

But Trump voters, Foxtrot Alpha, Foxtrot Oscar.

[ShazzieB]

6. It's great when the "little guys" win!

This sentence says everything about what Kentucky was up to (emphasis added by me): "Over the last five years, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has brought hundreds of fraud cases that are heavily reliant on transactional data with the goal of revoking people’s food benefits."

Their GOAL was to revoke benefits. They were deliberately looking for excuses to revoke benefits, to take food out of people's mouths. Sometimes I hate living in a country where anyone who accepts government assistance is automatically regarded as a criminal, even if things are not the same in every state. Ugh.