Indiana FSSA breaks down report on SNAP error rates

MICHIANA -- ABC57 sat down with Marcus Barlow, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Indiana FSSA Wednesday, to discuss a recent report by the USDA on SNAP error rates.

SNAP error rates are determined by how much recipients are overpaid or underpaid. Indiana has an error rate of 9.77% for the 2025 fiscal year, which is below the national average of 10.62%. 

President Trump's so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" added new requirements for states to meet when it comes to error rates. If states don't meet a 6% error rate threshold, they're responsible for covering a percentage of state benefits. 

States with an error rate between 6-8% will need to cover 5% of state costs. States between 8-10% will cover 10%, and any state higher than 10% will cover 15% of costs. 

If payments were due today, Indiana would need to pay back 10%. Since Indiana spent $1.4 billion on SNAP benefits last year, the state would owe $140 million. 

The payments won't take effect until October 1st, 2027, though the numbers released by the USDA last week are the first that can be used to calculate what amount is owed. 

Barlow tells ABC57 that Indiana is already seeing progress in dropping their error rate, and is in the process of hiring 65 staff to their Division of Family Resources to help cut down on their error rate. 

"Indiana is a conservative state. We want to make sure every taxpayer dollar is protected." said Barlow. 

The state of Michigan, which has an error rate of 9.89% according to the USDA report, spent approximately $3.25 billion on SNAP in the 2025 fiscal year. Since the state falls within the 10% range, they'll need to pay $325 million if their error rate doesn't go down by October of next year. 

Any state with a rate below 6% will owe no penalties.