Delayed start of denied and interstate claim accuracy sampling

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Washington, D.C. 20210
Classification: UI
Correspondence symbol: OWS/OCTA/DPM
Date: June 15, 2001

DIRECTIVE: UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 34-01

TO: STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AGENCIES

FROM: GRACE A. KILBANE
Administrator
Office of Workforce Security

SUBJECT: Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) Paid and Denied Claims Accuracy

RESCISSIONS: None
EXPIRATION DATE: June 30, 2002

1. Purpose. To notify State Employment Security Agencies that the implementation of Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) Denied Claims Accuracy (DCA) and the inclusion of paid interstate liable claims in paid claims accuracy (PCA) samples will be delayed until July 29, 2001.

2. References. Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 28-01 (April 10, 2001); and Benefit Accuracy Measurement State Operations Handbook, ET Handbook No. 395.

3. Background. UIPL No. 28-01 informed States of the Office of Management and Budget’s approval of the Department of Labor’s request to modify the BAM information collection program to collect data on the accuracy of denied claims for unemployment compensation and to include interstate liable claims in BAM PCA samples. UIPL No. 28-01 also notified States that they should begin selecting samples of denied claims and including paid interstate liable claims in BAM PCA samples as of batch 200123 (BAM sampling period June 3 to June 9, 2001).

One of the tasks required for the implementation of DCA and the inclusion of paid interstate liable claims in PCA samples is the revision of the BAM population edit and sample selection COBOL program. One of the five States that participated in the 1997-98 DCA pilot agreed to assume the task of revising the BAM COBOL program. The revised program was distributed to the other four DCA pilot States for testing in April. A bug in one of the program edits was identified through this testing. UIPL No. 28-01 informed the States that the Department of Labor anticipated that it would distribute the revised BAM COBOL in early May. However, the time required for the resolution of this programming issue precluded the distribution of the program to allow State agencies sufficient time to compile and test the program prior to the implementation date.

4. Revised Implementation Date. The date for implementing BAM DCA and including interstate liable claims in BAM PCA samples has been changed to batch 200131 (BAM sampling period July 29 to August 4, 2001). Allocated calendar year 2001 sample sizes for DCA samples are pro-rated to 64 cases for each of the three types of denials -- monetary, separation, and nonseparation determinations.

5. ADP Tasks and BAM Resources. States are responsible for the programming required to construct the BAM paid and denied claims transactions files. The Department of Labor will distribute the BAM COBOL program to the States as soon as compliance testing has been completed. States will have to recompile the revised COBOL program on their ADP systems prior to July 29, 2001. States that have not yet completed the programming required to implement DCA sampling and to include paid interstate liable claims in the BAM PCA samples are urged to do so as soon as possible in order to test the programs and identify any problems that require correction in advance of the July 29, 2001, effective date. The Department of Labor will install the revised DCA applications software on each State’s Sun Ultra 10 computer as soon as compliance testing has been completed.

The Department has revised the Benefit Accuracy Measurement State Operations Handbook, ET Handbook No. 395, to reflect the inclusion of DCA and the sampling of paid interstate liable claims in BAM PCA. The revised Handbook 395 will be distributed to the States and posted on the OWS Internet site (http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov). Sample claimant questionnaires for BAM paid and denied claims are included in ET Handbook 395 and were distributed at the two DCA training conferences held in Washington, DC, (April 11-13, 2001) and San Diego, CA, (May 23-25, 2001). The Department also plans to disseminate to the States a Question and Answer paper on DCA and the sampling of paid interstate liable claims in BAM PCA.

6. Action Required. State Administrators are requested to provide copies of this directive to the appropriate staff.

7. Inquiries. Questions should be directed to the appropriate ETA Regional Office.