CLEVELAND – Gov. John Kasich plans to end efforts to collect money from welfare recipients who were overpaid more than 10 years ago, said the governor’s spokesman Rob Nichols.
The state sent out 22,500 collection notices to welfare recipients who were overpaid three weeks ago. Some of the notices were for debts up to 25 years old.
Two viewers complained to NewsChannel5 about their collection notices. They said they had already paid off their welfare debts.
Nichols said he didn’t know how the state planned to handle those types of claims. However, he said the state will continue to collect overpayments going back 10 years and will pursue collections for fraud cases.
According to Nichols, Gov. Ted Strickland’s administration made the decision to collect older welfare debts last year after a federal rule change allowed states to collect debts more than a decade old.
