“For basically six weeks I’ve received nothing.”
One of the responses to the US economic crisis underway was an expansion of unemployment benefits.
But the reality is millions of claims are still unpaid. And that is helping fuel the push to reopen.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
One of the responses to the US economic crisis underway was an expansion of unemployment benefits.
But the reality is millions of claims are still unpaid. And that is helping fuel the push to reopen.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The reality is that the implementation of the UI expansion has been far from smooth. Across the country state systems have been overwhelmed.
The first wave was to file unemployment claims. Now the problem is state systems are struggling to administer those claims.
The first wave was to file unemployment claims. Now the problem is state systems are struggling to administer those claims.
In Maryland a third of claims have not been paid because they are stuck in administrative limbo. That’s 160,000 people waiting. The system is still overloaded. And it’s changing the view of Gov Hogan’s handling of the crisis: baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs…
In April, the US Treasury, which funds the payments made by states, paid out an unprecedented $48 billion in UI. Economists at the Brookings Institution, however, calculated that, the bill owed that month alone was at least $80 billion and mounting coming into May.
Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, says his estimate based on the data available is that just 60% of the 36.5 million people who have filed initial claims since March 15 have been paid the benefits they are owed.bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
California reported 4.1 million claims for unemployment from March 8 to May 2 and made payments to 3.3 million, according to state data.
In Texas, nearly 600,000 of the 2 million unique claims it’s received since the week ending March 14 hadn’t been paid as of May 9.
In Texas, nearly 600,000 of the 2 million unique claims it’s received since the week ending March 14 hadn’t been paid as of May 9.
In Wisconsin, officials are now working their way through a backlog equivalent to 600,482 weeks of unemployment payment for individuals, according to data the state gave us.
In the state of Washington, officials say they have received almost 1.8 million unemployment claims since early March but paid benefits to just 751,149 people as of a report released May 14.
Washington says the 1.8 million claims have actually been filed by a little over a million unique individuals.
That points to a problem with duplicate filings that has plagued many states thanks in part to overloaded systems that cause people to file multiple times.
That points to a problem with duplicate filings that has plagued many states thanks in part to overloaded systems that cause people to file multiple times.
Lawyers who help people file UI claims say they are seeing an increase in denials that are taking a long time to come.
In New York lawyers have seen claims filed in mid March be denied in May.
In New York lawyers have seen claims filed in mid March be denied in May.
But New York has a bigger issue...
The state is openly hiding how many people have filed for UI.
It is reporting how many claims it has processed to the US Dept of Labor - > 1.8m - as “initial” claims.
But it’s refusing to say how many “pending” claims it has.
The state is openly hiding how many people have filed for UI.
It is reporting how many claims it has processed to the US Dept of Labor - > 1.8m - as “initial” claims.
But it’s refusing to say how many “pending” claims it has.
And we know there are a lot of people in New York in that situation because a revolt has erupted on social media.
Check out #PendingPurgatory
Check out #PendingPurgatory
This @paulkrugman thread on the UI response is a good take on why paying benefits is good policy right now.
But good policy still needs to be inplemented. And right now millions in America are still waiting for their money ... And getting restless...
But good policy still needs to be inplemented. And right now millions in America are still waiting for their money ... And getting restless...
