EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION
ADVISORY SYSTEM
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Washington, D. C. 20210 		CLASSIFICATION

UI

CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL

OWS/DPM
ISSUE DATE

March 15, 2005
RESCISSIONS

 

 EXPIRATION DATE

March 31, 2006

ADVISORY : UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 17-05
 
TO : STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES
 
FROM : CHERYL ATKINSON s/s
Administrator
Office of Workforce Security
 
SUBJECT : Procedures for Release of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) Data for Calendar Year (CY) 2004

  1. Purpose. To provide State Workforce Agencies with guidelines and key dates for the completion of CY 2004 UI BAM paid and denied claims sample cases and the publication of CY 2004 BAM program data.


  2. References. Benefit Accuracy Measurement State Operations Handbook (ET Handbook No. 395, 3rd ed.), 20 CFR 602, and Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 19-96.


  3. Completion of CY 2004 BAM Cases. Chapter VI of ET Handbook No. 395 requires that "a minimum of 98 percent of cases for the year must be completed within 120 days of the ending date of the Calendar Year." Close of business (c.o.b.) April 30, the 120th day of CY 2005, is the date of record for state databases. All published BAM program data will be based on CY 2004 BAM paid and denied claims cases that have been signed off by the BAM program supervisor by c.o.b. April 30, 2005.

    Changes to the state's database subsequent to the date of record can result in inconsistencies with the Department of Labor's (DOL) database that must be reconciled before the BAM program data can be published. States must not reopen any CY 2004 BAM cases after April 30, 2005, until they have reviewed the BAM program data transmitted to them by DOL and have confirmed that these data agree with the BAM paid and denied claims accuracy data produced by the state's database. Procedures for resolving differences between DOL and state BAM program data are discussed in section 4.


  4. Transmittal of Data and Comment Period. The DOL national office will produce and transmit to each state by May 13, 2005, paid and denied claims accuracy data, based on the CY 2004 BAM cases as of c.o.b. April 30, 2005. States are encouraged to run the BAM paid claims Annual Report, denied claims accuracy (DCA) Error Rates Report, and Improper Denials Rates Report software and compare the results with the rates and report footnotes DOL transmits to them for comment prior to publication. Prior to the date of record, DOL will transmit a footnote lookup table for the CY 2004 BAM paid claims Annual Report and DCA Error Rates Report and Improper Denials Rates Report. See Attachments 1 and 2 for facsimiles of these reports, report definitions, and report footnotes. (Note: the title, "QC Annual Report," will be changed to "BAM Paid Claims Annual Report," in a future software release.)

    States should report any discrepancies or submit questions concerning the BAM paid and denied claims data and footnotes to the national office, with a copy to the appropriate Regional Administrator, by May 31, 2005. Comments should be sent to Andrew Spisak by e-mail (Spisak.Andrew@dol.gov), fax (202-693-3975), or mail:

    Andrew Spisak
    U. S. Department of Labor
    ETA / Office of Workforce Security
    200 Constitution Avenue, NW
    Room S-4522
    Washington, DC 20210


    National and regional office staff will address and reconcile issues raised by the states by June 10, 2005.


  5. Federal Publication of BAM Program Data. DOL will publish a CY 2004 BAM analytical report. It will be similar in content to the CY 2003 analytical report, which is available at: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/bam/2003/bam-cy2003.asp. States should refer to this publication for the types of analyses that will be included in the CY 2004 publication.

    DOL will also publish a compendium of all states' CY 2004 BAM paid and denied claims data as part of the UI Performs Annual Report. UI Performs is DOL's performance measurement system for UI. States should refer to the CY 2003 UI Performs Annual Report (http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/ar_03.pdf) publication for the types of BAM program data that will be included in the CY 2004 publication.

    Both the CY 2004 UI Performs Annual Report and the CY 2004 BAM analytical report will be posted on the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Web site:

    http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov. DOL will also announce the availability of these reports on the Web site.

    If a state fails to follow the BAM methodology regarding sample selection, data collection, or case completion timeliness prescribed in ET Handbook No. 395 to such an extent that the data are not reliable, DOL will publish an explanation of the major deficiencies in lieu of BAM program data for that state. States must address these deficiencies through corrective action plans as part of the State Quality Service Plan process.

    Although UIPL No. 19-96 announced the elimination of the requirement in 20 CFR 602.21(g) that states release BAM program data publicly, states may choose to release their BAM data to the public independent of the federal release.


  6. Key Dates. The following key dates for the public release of CY 2004 BAM data are the latest that the task or action must be completed.

    4/15/05States submit requests for waivers of BAM paid and denied claims time lapse requirements, along with supporting analysis, to the appropriate ETA Regional Administrator.
    4/22/05Regional offices respond to states on the disposition of state requests for waivers of BAM time lapse requirements.
    4/30/05The national office electronically transmits the footnote lookup table for the BAM paid and denied claims software to each state's Sun computer.
    4/30/05Each state checks its UI database to: 1) ensure that the BAM supervisor has signed off all BAM paid and denied claims cases which the investigators have completed, and 2) reopen any case in order to update information or correct any data errors. Cases closed by supervisors after April 30, 2005, will not be included in the paid claims Annual Report or DCA rates. States must not reopen any CY 2004 cases after April 30, 2005, until they have reviewed the BAM program data transmitted by the national office and verified the data against their state database or reconciled any differences with DOL.
    5/13/05The national office transmits the CY 2004 BAM program data to the state administrators.
    5/31/05States review BAM paid and denied claims accuracy rate data and footnotes, and report any discrepancies or submit questions concerning the BAM data or footnotes to the national office (to the attention of Andrew Spisak, as discussed in section 4), with copies to the appropriate ETA Regional Administrator.
    6/10/05National and regional office staff address issues raised by the states and reconcile any differences in state and DOL BAM program data.
    6/10/05States provide the national office the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the contact person (or persons) for public inquiries concerning BAM paid and denied claims data. This information should be sent to the attention of Andrew Spisak at the address, e-mail address, or fax provided in section 4, with copies to the appropriate ETA Regional Administrator.
    8/31/05DOL publishes the CY 2004 BAM data on the ETA Web site.


  7. Action. State Administrators are requested to:

    1. provide copies of these guidelines to the appropriate staff;


    2. send any request for a waiver of time lapse requirements to the appropriate ETA Regional Administrator by c.o.b. April 15, 2005;


    3. ensure that any issues related to CY 2004 BAM paid or denied claims data or footnotes that require reconciliation of differences between the state's and DOL's BAM program data are sent to the national office and that copies are sent to the appropriate ETA Regional Administrator by May 31, 2005; and


    4. ensure that the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the contact person(s) to whom interested parties may write or call with questions or inquiries about the state's BAM program data are sent to the national office and copies are sent to the appropriate ETA Regional Administrator by June 10, 2005.


  8. Inquiries. Questions should be directed to the appropriate regional office.


  9. Attachments. (1) BAM paid claims Annual Report, report definitions, and report footnotes; and (2) DCA Error Rates Report and Improper Denials Rates Report, report definitions, and report footnotes.