Officials in Massachusetts are investigating whether to file criminal or civil charges after an auditor’s report last month found that the state had handed out $18 million in questionable benefits — including welfare — to more than 1,000 dead people.
Michigan’s governor Rick Snyder just signed a law to make sure that dead people are not eligible for food assistance.
There have been calls for “entitlement reform,” but Melissa Threadgill, a Master in Public Policy student at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, argues that what’s really needed is data reform — upgrades to data systems that are years out of date.
Guest:
- Melissa Threadgill, student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Her story in the Boston Globe is “Fixing welfare fraud requires technology reform.” She tweets @melisthreadgill.
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