Anti-fraud initiatives hold up jobless benefits for some Hoosiers with legitimate claims
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Anti-fraud initiatives implemented by the state to identify phony unemployment claims are inadvertently holding up benefits for some Hoosiers with legitimate claims.
Eligibility questions accompanying weekly vouchers may create issues “requiring additional investigation,” a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development said.
Claimants uncertain about how to answer the new questions may unwittingly submit answers that spark eligibility reviews, halting their weekly payments until their responses can be verified.
Eligibility reviews typically take 21 business days.
Workforce Development officials addressed the fraud-prevention measures in an emailed statement to News 8 on Wednesday, three weeks after the department confirmed payment delays impacting more than 20,000 Hoosiers had been caused by a new question on weekly Pandemic Unemployment Assistance vouchers.
The question linked to widespread payment delays in August had also been added to help identify fraud. It was promptly removed from Pandemic Unemployment Assistance vouchers.
Officials were unable to confirm how many payments were delayed because of other fraud prevention questions but indicated claimants seeking any type of benefits could be impacted: regular unemployment insurance, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, and extended benefits.
“Every claimant seeking unemployment insurance benefits is required to submit a weekly voucher and answer various questions to ensure they remain eligible each week. This is required per federal and state law to ensure that only those claimants that are eligible that week are paid,” said Scott Olson, a Workforce Development spokesperson.
Aaron McCorkle, a Navy veteran in McCordsville who worked as a carpenter before the pandemic, worried well-intentioned efforts to weed out fraud were backfiring on innocent Hoosiers struggling to pay bills.
He received six weeks of unemployment benefits before his eligibility was flagged for review. He reported no changes in employment status and didn’t recall answering any confusing questions.
For the next 10 weeks, he received no payments and relied on the generosity of loved ones.
“I’ve had a lot of friends come and drop off boxes of food, and it doesn’t make me proud,” McCorkle said.
He said he called the Workforce Development’s Benefits Call Center every day for weeks but couldn’t reach staffers.
McCorkle broke down in tears as he described his biggest fear: missing mortgage payments and losing the family home he inherited from his mother, who died from COVID-19 at an Avon nursing home in May.
“She had Lewy body dementia and she kind of forgot a lot of things that were going on,” he said. “But she always would pull me to the side and say, ‘You make sure that Aaron takes care of the house,’ because my mother loved this house. She knows I’ll die before I leave this house and let it go back to the bank.”