| State of
Michigan Benefits from Veris Services
From the Information
Technical Support Center (ITSC) Unemployment Insurance Website,
Sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Labor
State: Michigan
Description: This is a proactive approach to detect fraudulent social
security numbers before "claimants" can file for or receive unemployment
benefits (e.g., against deceased individual numbers). As such, it
preserves the integrity of the Trust Fund and serves as a deterrent
to false filings. This program was initiated in 1998 as a joint effort
between the Benefit Detection / Determination Unit and Information
Technology.
Hardware/Software: VERIS (Socal Security Number Validation and Identification
Services), Security Software Solutions, P O Box 30125, Tucson, AZ
85751-0125, Web Site: Http://www.veris-ssn.com
Lessons Learned: IT provides a daily file of all new claims taken.
This file contains the name, birth date, and SSN. It is downloaded
to a disk and run against the VERIS software on a personal computer.
An error listing is created showing suspect SSNs or a problem with
one or more of the key fields (name, DOB, SSN). This listing is reviewed
and corrections (e.g., putting an erroneous year in the DOB) are
made or the individual is referred to the Social Security Administration
for confirmation of his/her number, the local agency office is advised
of data entry errors needing correction, or fraud determinations
are written.
Other Information: In the 18 months preceding 9-11-99, over 666,060
new claims were processed through VERIS. Of these, 3,113 failed to
pass the validity check and required additional investigation by
the agency. 271 claims were denied. Using the statewide average number
of benefit weeks paid (10.3) multipled by the average benefit entitlement
of $234.63 multipled by the number of denied claims, a savings of
$654,922.99 was established. This is benefits money saved due to
this program.
Seen another way, 3,030 weeks of benefit payment have been saved,
with the savings passed on to employers through lower experience
ratings and lower administrative costs. These savings far outweigh
the $80,000 cost of an analyst, the use of IT resources, and the
purchase of the VERIS software.
Overall, this project, to date, has returned over $8.50 Trust Fund
dollars for every dollar spent to operate the program.
Date Posted: 2/19/00
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