Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, September 16, 2011
Best in Nation Hawaii Overpaid “only” $9.5M in Unemployment
By Andrew Walden @ 3:12 AM :: 7658 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

by Andrew Walden

Hawaii has the lowest rate of Unemployment Insurance paid in error over the last year. For the period from July, 2010 to June, 2011, of Hawaii’s $308M in Unemployment Compensation payments, “only” 3.1% were paid wrongly. The total in overpayments was $9,555,990 according to figures released by the US Department of Labor.

For the three-year period from July, 2008 to June, 2011 Hawaii had the fourth-lowest rate of Unemployment Compensation overpayments, with only 4.2% paid in error.

While this may seem like a incongruous victory for Hawaii’s outdated Wang-and-filing cabinet IT System and a gold star for Hawaii’s much-maligned State government employees, officials point to the complexity of UComp rules as a leading cause of overpayments. States with more stringent UComp requirements have higher error rates—and those such as Hawaii which require little from the unemployed therefore have few errors.

Indiana tops the listing at 43% UComp overpayments, but the Wall Street Journal reports:

Mark Everson, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said the differences in error rates stem from variations in state programs.

“To characterize it as waste, fraud and abuse is just manipulative,” Mr. Everson said. “There’s no way in the world you could cut the 43% of people off.”

Mr. Everson pointed out that in Indiana, benefit recipients are required to list three work searches. If a recipient fills out only two of the three searches correctly, there are cases when the recipient can still receive benefits. But that counts as an error.

The Labor Department noted, “it may be misleading to compare one state’s payment accuracy rates with another state’s rates… States with stringent or complex provisions tend to have higher improper payment rates than those with simpler, more straightforward provisions.” …

A large percentage of unemployment benefits are paid in error. The following chart shows the amount overpaid in each state from July 2010 to June 2011 and the rate of overpayment. The Labor Department cautions that no two states' written laws, regulations and policies specifying eligibility conditions are identical, and differences in these conditions influence the potential for error. States with stringent or complex provisions tend to have higher improper payment rates than those with simpler, more straightforward provisions.

US DoL: Chart

WSJ: Chart

WSJ: Billions in Unemployment Benefits Paid in Error

Hawaii
$308,105,469
$9,555,990
3.1%
4.2%

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii