Food-Stamp Overpayments Drop With Record Usage: BGOV Barometer

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Food-stamp overpayments have dropped to record lows even as the number of Americans receiving aid is at an all-time high, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

The BGOV Barometer shows the percentage of food-stamp payments that were above program guidelines fell to 2.99 percent in the year ended Sept. 30, 2011, the most recent available, according to the department. The overpayment rate was less than half what it was a decade earlier, while the number of recipients more than doubled to 44.7 million people on average in 2011.