Ohio unemployment overpayments hit $3.8 billion
Ohio’s unemployment compensation system shelled out $3.38 billion in overpayments and $478 million in fraudulent payments since spring 2020, state officials said Friday.
Ohio is trying to get the word out to 700,000 workers who were overpaid that they need to apply for a waiver to avoid being required to pay back the money. But so far just 18% of them have completed waiver applications, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Ohio’s unemployment compensation system was slammed with fraudulent claims and overpayments after the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020. Fraudulent payments are being investigated by state and federal authorities.
Ohio Job and Family Services Director Matthew Damschroder said the state will continue to remind the other 82% that they need to apply. None of the overpayment accounts have been sent to the Ohio attorney general’s debt collection system, he said.
“We have not made a decision on that. We want to make sure that we keep the waiver possibility open as long as possible,” he said in an interview. State officials have yet to start processing the waiver applications, he said.
Another problem is account takeovers – where criminals gain access to banking information and reroute payments to themselves. Victims of account takeovers will soon have a mechanism for requesting replacement payments from the state.
Damschroder said Ohio has stepped up its fraud flagging efforts, such as enhanced identity verification and authentication for those logging into the sys
tem.
“We are fighting a constant battle against foreign and domestic criminals using increasingly sophisticated methods to attempt to defraud Ohio’s unemployment system,” Damschroder said.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.