Unemployment Insurance Program Letter

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION ADVISORY SYSTEM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Washington, D.C. 20210	CLASSIFICATION Unemployment Insurance
	CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL OUI/DPM
	DATE

ADVISORY: UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO.

TO: STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES

FROM: ROSEMARY LAHASKY

Deputy Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT: Procedures for the Completion and Publication of Unemployment

Insurance (UI) Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) Data for

Improper Payment Information Act Reporting Year 2018

1. Purpose. To provide State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) guidelines and key dates for the completion of the 2018 UI BAM paid and denied claims sample cases and the publication of 2018 BAM data. This annual instruction is issued under ET Handbook No. 395, 5^th Edition’s OMB approval 1205-0245.

2. References.

• Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA), Pub. L. No. 107-300, as amended by the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (IPERIA), Pub. L. 112-248, 31 U.S.C. § 3321 note;

• 31 U.S.C. § 3515 [Financial statements of agencies];

• 20 C.F.R. Part 602, Quality Control in the Federal-State Unemployment Insurance System;

• Employment and Training (ET) Handbook No. 395, 5^th Edition, Benefit Accuracy Measurement State Operations Handbook (November 2009);

• Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-123, Management’s Responsibility for Enterprise Risk Management and Internal Control (Revised July 15, 2016);

• Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 21-17, Additional Planning Guidance for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Unemployment Insurance (UI) State Quality Service Plan (SQSP) (August 4, 2017); and

• UIPL No. 15-17, Procedures for the Completion and Publication of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) Data for Improper Payment Information Act (IPIA) Reporting Year 2017 (March 31, 2017).

3. Background. Each year, the U.S. Department of Labor (Department) Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA’s) national office publishes the BAM program calendar year results on the Department’s (www.dol.gov/dol/maps/map-ipia.htm) and the Office of Unemployment Insurance’s (https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/bqc.asp) websites. Historically, the BAM calendar year release has included an analytical report or a detailed analysis of the calendar year results. As part of this process, ETA announces the publication cycle with the issuance of a UIPL, which provides dates for case completion, verification of data contained in the national database, and an explanation of data footnotes. This UIPL continues that practice. This issuance constitutes publication according to newly established analytical report year to align it with the annual financial reporting requirement found in the IPIA, as amended by IPERIA.

4. Completion of IPIA as Amended by IPERIA 2018 BAM Cases. Federal law requires that the head of each covered executive Federal agency prepare and submit to the Congress and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget an audited financial statement for the preceding fiscal year, covering all accounts and associated activities of each office, bureau, and activity of the agency (31 U.S.C. § 3515). ETA’s national office includes improper payment estimates for the unemployment compensation program with the materials accompanying the Department’s annual audited financial statement submitted under the reporting provisions of IPIA (31 U.S.C. § 3321 note), as amended by IPERIA and the OMB guidance (Appendix C to Circular No. A-123, Requirements for Effective Estimation and Remediation of Improper Payments (October 20, 2014), as revised by OMB Circular No. A-123, Management’s Responsibility for Enterprise Risk Management and Internal Control).

To accomplish this mandate and provide a detailed explanation of improper payments, ETA establishes the IPIA reporting year for the BAM program, which includes payment accuracy estimates for the period beginning in July and continuing through June of the following year (BAM batch range YYYY27 through (YYYY+1) 26). ETA has established standards that states complete a minimum 95 percent of sampled cases within 90 days of the week ending date of the batch (BAM sampling week), and complete 98 percent of sampled cases within 120 days of the ending date of the annual reporting period [ET Handbook 395, 5th edition, p. VI-11]. The July to June reporting period is the most recent BAM data available to meet the IPIA reporting schedule requirements for the fiscal year.

For IPIA 2018 reporting purposes, the end of the year is June 30, 2018. Therefore, all published BAM data will be based on IPIA 2018 BAM paid and denied claims cases on which the BAM supervisor has signed off by the date of record, which is the close of business (COB) on the date 120 days after the end of the reporting year, i.e., October 28, 2018. IPIA 2018 will include batch range 201727 through 201826, which covers the period beginning July 2, 2017 through June 30, 2018.

Changes to a SWA’s databases after the date of record can result in inconsistencies with the ETA’s national office database. A SWA must not reopen any IPIA 2018 BAM cases after October 28, 2018, until the SWA has reviewed the BAM data transmitted to it by ETA’s national office and has confirmed that the data agree with the BAM paid claims accuracy and denied claims accuracy data produced by the SWA’s databases.

5. Transmittal of Data and Comment Period. ETA’s national office will produce and transmit to each SWA by November 16, 2018, paid and denied claims accuracy data for that SWA, based on the IPIA 2018 BAM cases as of October 28, 2018. Before publication, SWAs are encouraged to run the BAM Paid Claims Annual Report, Denied Claims Error Rates Report, and Improper Denials Rates Report software and to compare the results with the rates and report footnotes that the ETA’s national office transmits to them for comment.

Not later than October 26, 2018, ETA’s national office will transmit a footnote lookup table for the IPIA 2018 BAM Paid Claims Annual Report, Denied Claims Error Rates Report, and Improper Denials Rates Report. Samples of these reports, report definitions, and report footnotes are available in Attachments 1 and 2. By November 30, 2018, SWAs should report any discrepancies or submit questions concerning the BAM paid and denied claims data and footnotes to ETA’s national office, with a copy to the appropriate ETA regional administrator. Please send comments to Ross Miller by e-mail: [email protected], fax: (202) 693-3975, or mail:

Mr. Ross Miller

U. S. Department of Labor

ETA / Office of Unemployment Insurance

200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room S-4519

Washington, D.C. 20210

ETA’s national office and regional office staff will address and reconcile issues raised by the SWAs by December 7, 2018.

6. Federal Publication of BAM Data. ETA’s national office will publish the IPIA 2018 BAM analytical report on the ETA website: https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/bqc.asp.

ETA national and regional office staff continuously monitor state performance with respect to the BAM administrative requirements established in ET Handbook 395, 5^th Edition (for example, minimum sample sizes, population variances, case completion percentages and timeliness, and quality of the BAM audits). According to UIPL No. 21-17, p. 12, SWAs must address BAM program performance deficiencies in a Corrective Action Plan as a part of the State Quality Service Plan.

7. Key Dates (No Later Than). The following key dates are the latest dates for completing the task or action:

06/30/18 - This date represents the end of the IPIA reporting year and includes batches 201727 through 201826. By this date, SWAs must have selected the minimum number of valid cases to meet annual sample allocation requirements (i.e., 480 or 360 paid claim cases and 150 of each of the three types of denied claims). SWAs must complete at least 98 percent of the valid sample cases sampled in IPIA 2018 within 120 days of this date (i.e., October 28, 2018).

10/12/18 - SWAs submit requests for waivers of BAM paid and denied claims timeliness requirements, along with supporting documentation, to the appropriate ETA regional administrator. Generally, waivers are only granted for catastrophic events (i.e., occurrence by natural causes that could not have been prevented by the exercise of foresight or caution).

10/26/18 - ETA’s national office electronically transmits the footnote lookup table for the BAM paid and denied claims software to each SWA’s Unemployment Insurance Database System (Sun Server).

10/26/18 - Regional offices respond to SWAs on the disposition of SWA requests for waivers of BAM timeliness requirements.

10/28/18 - Each SWA checks its UI database to ensure that: 1) the BAM supervisor has signed off on all BAM paid and denied claims cases that investigators have completed; and 2) reopened cases have been updated and data errors corrected by this date. Cases closed by supervisors after COB on October 28, 2018, will not be included in the Paid Claims Accuracy IPIA Report or the Denied Claim Accuracy Error Rates and Improper Denials Rates Reports. SWAs must not reopen any IPIA 2018 cases after October 28, 2018, until they have reviewed the BAM data transmitted by ETA’s national office and verified the data against their SWA database or reconciled any differences with ETA’s national office.

11/16/18 - ETA’s national office and regional offices transmit the IPIA 2018 BAM data to the SWAs’ BAM Supervisors.

11/30/18 - SWAs review BAM paid and denied claims accuracy data and footnotes, and report any discrepancies or submit questions about the BAM data or footnotes to ETA’s national office (to the attention of Mr. Ross Miller, as discussed in Section 5 of this guidance), with copies to the appropriate ETA regional administrator.

12/07/18 - ETA’s national and regional offices staff address issues raised by the SWAs and reconcile any differences between SWA and ETA’s national office BAM data.

12/14/18 - SWAs provide the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the contact person(s) for public inquiries about BAM paid and denied claims data. SWAs should send this information to the attention of Mr. Ross Miller at the address, e-mail address, or fax listed in Section 5 of this guidance, with copies to the appropriate ETA regional administrator.

3/29/19 - The ETA’s national office publishes the IPIA 2018 BAM data on the ETA website: https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/bqc.asp.

8. Action Requested. ETA’s national office requests that SWA Administrators:

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

2. Send any request for a waiver of BAM timeliness requirements to the appropriate ETA regional administrator by COB October 12, 2018; and

3. Ensure that ETA’s national office and the appropriate ETA regional administrator are:

1. Notified, by November 30, 2018, of any issues that require the reconciliation of differences between the SWA’s and the ETA’s national office BAM data; and

2. Provided, by December 14, 2018, the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the person(s) whom interested parties may contact with questions or inquiries about the SWA’s BAM data.

9. Inquiries. Please direct questions to the appropriate ETA regional office.

10. Attachments.

Attachment 1 - Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) Paid Claims Accuracy Annual Report, Report Definitions, and Report Footnotes

Attachment 2 - Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) Denied Claims Accuracy Error Rates Report and Improper Denials Rates Report, Report Definitions, and Report Footnotes

BENEFIT ACCURACY MEASUREMENT
PAID CLAIMS ACCURACY
ANNUAL REPORT

STATE: ZZ

Batch Range: 201727 - 201826

Total Dollars Paid in Population	$221,830,728
Sample Size	383

	Percentage Of Dollars	95% Confidence Interval (+ / -)
Proper Payments	88.1%	3.5%
Overpayments	11.6%	3.5%
Total	100.0%
Underpayments	0.3%	0.2%

Percentages apply to less than a complete year of UI payments; the State did not pull a sample for 3 week(s).

The State completed 83.7% of the cases within 90 days.
The Quality Control (QC) program standard is 95% completed within 90 days.

15.9% of the sample cases were not completed when this report was prepared. This exceeded the QC program requirement that no more than 2% of the cases for the year remain incomplete.

BENEFIT ACCURACY MEASUREMENT

PAID CLAIMS ACCURACY

ANNUAL REPORT (Supplemental Data)

STATE: ZZ

Batch Range: 201727 - 201826

Responsibility for Overpayments (Percent of Dollars Overpaid)
Claimant Only	51.6
Agency Only	15.6
Claimant + Agency	10.6
Claimant + Employer	10.5
Employer Only	8.6
Claimant + Employer + Agency	2.1
Claimant + Other	1.7
Employer + Agency	1.0
Other Only	0.0
Employer + Other	0.0
Agency + Other	0.0
Claimant + Employer + Other	0.0
Claimant + Agency + Other	0.0
Employer + Agency + Other	0.0
Claimant + Employer + Agency + Other	0.0
Responsibility Not Specified	0.0

Cause for Overpayments (Percent of Dollars Overpaid)
Benefit Year Earnings Issues	39.1
Eligibility Issues Excluding Work Search	25.7
Separation Issues	20.5
Base Period Wage Issues	7.4
Other Issues	5.9
Work Search Issues	2.9

NOTE	The percentages for the responsibilities or cause do not sum to 100 percent. You should check field (h5) to verify that all cases have been coded correctly within your specified batch range.

If cause and responsibility percentages do not add up to 100 percent, states should check for cases in which the key week amount overpaid coded in data element h5 in the b_master table of the UI database does not equal the sum of dollars overpaid coded in data element ei1 for key week actions 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 in the b_errisu table. The amount overpaid cannot exceed the amount paid coded in data element f13 in the b_master table.

BAM Annual Report Definitions

Total Dollars Paid in Population

Total UI benefits paid to the population of UI claimants who constitute the sampling frames for all weeks in IPIA 2018 for which the State pulled a BAM sample, adjusted to exclude UI payments that do not meet the definition of the BAM population (for example, supplemental payments or payments made for Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) claims). These excluded cases are coded “8” (EUC) or “9” (all other excluded records) in the program code data element (c1) in the b_master table of the UI database.

Sample Size

Total number of UI payments selected during IPIA 2018 (BAM batches 201727 through 201826) and completed (supervisor sign-off) by COB October 28, 2018, excluding cases that do not meet the BAM population definition. This is the number of BAM sample cases from which the payment accuracy rates and confidence intervals are estimated.

Proper Payments

The weighted ratio estimate of total dollars properly paid to total dollars paid expressed as a percentage.

Overpayments

The weighted ratio estimate of total dollars overpaid to total dollars paid expressed as a percentage.

Underpayments

The weighted ratio estimate of total dollars underpaid to total dollars paid expressed as a percentage.

Weighting Procedures

UI benefits properly paid, overpaid, and underpaid for each batch with at least two completed paid claims cases are weighted by the batch population, adjusted to exclude cases that do not meet the BAM definition (program code “8” or “9”). The accuracy rates are the ratios of these weighted benefits, summed for all batches. Batches with only one completed case are merged to ensure that each batch has a minimum of two completed cases.

95 Percent Confidence Interval

A confidence interval, expressed as +/- x percentage points, is constructed for each of the three estimated rates. The actual rate is expected to lie within 95 percent of the intervals constructed from repeated samples of the same size and selected in the same manner as the BAM sample.

BAM Paid Claims Accuracy Footnotes

Footnote 1

Claimants failing to conduct required work search were given formal warnings, and no overpayment was established. The proper payment rate would be lower, and the overpayment rate would be higher if these cases were counted as erroneous payments.

Condition: Any IPIA 2018 BAM case with key week action code ‘14’ in field ei2 of the b_errisu table of the UI database.

Footnote 2

Percentages apply to less than a complete year of UI payments due to the State not pulling a sample for x weeks.

Condition: There is no record in the b_comparison table of the UI database for one or more BAM batches 201727 through 201826.

Note: If the State requested and received permission from ETA’s national office to suspend BAM sampling temporarily due to a catastrophic event or another approved reason, the footnote will reflect that ETA’s national office concurred with the suspension.

Footnote 3

The State selected samples that were below the minimum prescribed levels for x weeks.

Condition: State selected one or more BAM weekly samples below the minimum level prescribed in Benefit Accuracy Measurement State Operations Handbook, ET Handbook No. 395, 5^th Edition chapter VI, p. 11. Sampled cases that fail to meet the BAM population definition are counted toward meeting the minimum weekly sample.

The minimum weekly and quarterly samples, based on current annual sample allocations are:

Sample	Annual Allocation	Normal Weekly	Minimum Weekly	Normal Quarterly	Minimum Quarterly
Paid Claims	360*	7	5	90	81
Paid Claims	480	9	6	120	108
Denials	150/450**	3	2	37-38	32

* Allocation for the ten smallest states in terms of UI workload.

** 150 cases each of monetary, separation, and non-separation denials will be selected each year, for a total of 450 Denied Claims Accuracy cases.

Note: If a state requested and received permission from ETA’s national office to reduce BAM sample sizes temporarily due to workload contingencies, the footnote will reflect that ETA’s national office concurred with the reduction.

Footnote 4

Percentages based on data collection procedures that were not completely in accordance with the program methodology prescribed in ET Handbook No. 395, 5^th Edition.

Condition: ETA national and regional office staff continuously monitors state performance with respect to the BAM administrative requirements established in ET Handbook 395, 5^th Edition (for example, minimum sample sizes, population variances, case completion percentages and timeliness, and quality of the BAM audits). According to UIPL No. 21-17, p. 12, states must address BAM program performance deficiencies in a Corrective Action Plan as a part of the State Quality Service Plan.

Footnote 5

The state completed x percent of the cases within 90 days. The program standard is 95 percent completed within 90 days.

Condition: State failed to meet case completion objectives established in ET Handbook No. 395, 5^th Edition, Benefit Accuracy Measurement State Operations Handbook, chapter VI, p. 11. Cases not meeting the BAM population definition are not counted in calculating state time lapse rates.

Footnote 6

x percent of the sample cases were not completed when this report was prepared. This exceeded the program requirement that no more than two (2) percent of the cases for the year remain incomplete.

Condition: The percentage is based on the number of BAM cases that were not completed (no supervisor sign-off) by COB October 28, 2018, divided by the number of valid cases selected for BAM weekly samples during IPIA 2018 (BAM batches 201727 through 201826). Cases that do not meet the BAM population definition are not counted in calculating state case completion rates.

Footnote 7

The annual sample for [state] is x cases below the allocated annual sample for the state. The precision of the data might be reduced due to the failure to sample at the prescribed level.

Condition: The state’s annual sample selection is below its allocated annual sample. Cases that do not meet the BAM population definition are not counted toward meeting the annual sample allocation.

Note: If a state requested and received permission from ETA’s national office to reduce BAM sample sizes temporarily due to workload contingencies, the footnote will reflect that ETA’s national office concurred with the reduction.

Footnote 8

The population from which the BAM sample was selected did not include all of the UI benefits paid. This limits the degree to which inferences about the population can be made from BAM data.

Condition: The dollars paid in the BAM population for IPIA 2018 vary from the dollars paid reported in the state’s ETA 5159 Claims and Payment Activities reports by more than the statistical control limit.

BENEFIT ACCURACY MEASUREMENT (BAM)
DENIED CLAIMS ACCURACY (DCA)
ERROR RATES REPORT
State: ZZ
Report Date:  11/30/2018
Batch Range:  201727 ~ 201826

Denial Type	Population	Cases Completed*
Monetary	97,029	143
Separation	77,374	140
Nonseparation	24,229	134

Denial Type		Total Errors	Improper Denial	Adjusted Improper Denial**	Overpayment	Proper Denial***
Monetary		16.52%	14.85%	8.05%	0.00%	1.67%
Separation		28.59%	16.12%	15.87%	0.00%	12.47%
Nonseparation		40.74%	14.02%	14.02%	0.00%	26.71%
*	Excludes cases not meeting DCA definition for inclusion in population, withdrawn claims, and claims for which monetary eligibility was established upon receipt of combined wage claim (CWC), unemployment compensation for federal employees (UCFE), and/or unemployment compensation for ex-servicemembers (UCX) wage credits.
**	Adjusted rate excludes erroneous denials that were corrected by agency or reversed on appeal prior to DCA case completion.
***	Properly denied, but for wrong reason or section of the law.

The state completed 76.35 percent of the Monetary denials sample cases within 90 days. The program standard is 85 percent completed within 90 days.

The state completed 78.43 percent of the Separation denials sample cases within 90 days. The program standard is 85 percent completed within 90 days.

The state completed 79.87 percent of the Nonseparation denials sample cases within 90 days. The program standard is 85 percent completed within 90 days.

Estimated rates apply to less than the total population of Monetary denials due to the state not pulling a sample for 1 week(s).

Estimated rates apply to less than the total population of Separation denials due to the state not pulling a sample for 1 week(s).

Estimated rates apply to less than the total population of Nonseparation denials due to the state not pulling a sample for 1 week(s).

BENEFIT ACCURACY MEASUREMENT
DENIED CLAIMS ACCURACY
IMPROPER DENIALS RATES REPORT
State: ZZ
Report Date:  11/30/2018
Batch Range:  201727 ~ 201826

Denial Type	Population	Cases Completed*
Monetary	97,029	143
Separation	77,374	140
Nonseparation	24,229	134

Denial Type		Improper Denial	95% C.I (+/-)	Adjusted Improper Denial**	95% C.I (+/-)
Monetary		14.85%	5.77%	8.05%	4.51%
Separation		16.12%	6.45%	15.87%	6.43%
Nonseparation		14.02%	6.13%	14.02%	6.13%
*	Excludes cases not meeting DCA definition for inclusion in population, withdrawn claims, and claims for which monetary eligibility was established upon receipt of CWC, UCFE, and/or UCX wage credits.
**	Adjusted rate excludes erroneous denials that were corrected by agency or reversed on appeal prior to DCA case completion.
Note: 95% C.I. is the 95 percent confidence interval for the estimated rate. The interval is the range between the rate minus the value in the 95% C.I. column and the rate plus the value in the 95% C.I. column. For example, the interval for 10.0% +/- 2.5 is 7.5% to 12.5%. The true rate is expected to lie within 95 percent of the intervals constructed from repeated samples of the same size and selected in the same manner as the BAM DCA sample.
The state completed 76.35 percent of the Monetary denials sample cases within 90 days. The program standard is 85 percent completed within 90 days.
The state completed 78.43 percent of the Separation denials sample cases within 90 days. The program standard is 85 percent completed within 90 days.
The state completed 79.87 percent of the Nonseparation denials sample cases within 90 days. The program standard is 85 percent completed within 90 days.
Estimated rates apply to less than the total population of Monetary denials due to the state not pulling a sample for 1 week(s).
Estimated rates apply to less than the total population of Separation denials due to the state not pulling a sample for 1 week(s).
Estimated rates apply to less than the total population of Nonseparation denials due to the state not pulling a sample for 1 week(s).

BAM Denied Claims Accuracy Rates Report Definitions

Population

The number of denial determinations that constitute the sampling frames for all weeks in IPIA 2018 for which the state pulled a BAM DCA sample, adjusted to exclude agency actions that do not meet the definition of the BAM DCA population (for example, monetary redeterminations, nonmonetary determinations that are not reportable on the ETA 207 and 9052 reports, and denied emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) claims). These excluded cases are coded “8” (EUC) or “9” (all other excluded records) in the Program code data element in the b_dca_master table of the UI database. The software also adjusts the DCA populations to exclude two types of cases for which there is no denial issue to investigate: 1) cases in which monetary eligibility was established upon receipt of Combined Wage Claims, Alternative Base Period Claims, Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees, and/or Unemployment Compensation for Ex-service members wage credits within the two-week sampling lag (Action Code Flag “0”); and 2) claims withdrawn by the claimant (Action Code Flag “8”).

Sample Size

Total DCA cases selected during IPIA 2018 (BAM batches 201727 through 201826) and completed (supervisor sign-off) by COB October 28, 2018, excluding cases that do not meet the BAM DCA population definition. This is the number of BAM DCA sample cases from which the accuracy rates are estimated.

Improper Denial Rate

The weighted proportion of denied claims for which the DCA investigation concluded that the claimant should have been eligible for UI benefits or was underpaid UI benefits (Error Issue Action Code = “20”, “21”, “22”, or “23”), expressed as a percentage.

Adjusted Improper Denial Rate

Improper Denial Rate excluding cases in which erroneous denials were corrected by the agency (Prior Agency Action = “20” to “29” or eligibility was established through appeal (Results of Appeal of Initial Determination = “1” or “3”) prior to DCA case completion.

Overpayment Rate

The weighted proportion of denied claims for which the DCA investigation concluded that the claimant should have been ineligible for UI, or should have received a lower benefit amount, for weeks that had been paid (Error Issue Action Code = “10”, “11”, “12”, “13”, “14”, “15”, or “16”), expressed as a percentage.

Proper Denial Rate

The weighted proportion of denied claims for which the DCA investigation concluded that the claimant was properly denied but for the wrong or different reason/section of the law (Error Issue Action Code = “30”), expressed as a percentage.

Weighting Procedures

Accuracy rates are computed separately for each batch with at least two completed DCA cases and weighted by the batch population, adjusted to exclude cases that do not meet the BAM DCA definition (Program code “8” or “9”) or cases with Action Codes “0” (monetary eligibility established upon receipt of CWC, UCFE, and/or UCX wage credits) or “8” (withdrawn claims). The accuracy rate equals the sum of the products of the batch rates and weights. Batches with only one completed case are merged to ensure that each batch has a minimum of two completed cases.

95 Percent Confidence Interval

A confidence interval, expressed as +/- x percentage points, is constructed for each of the estimated accuracy rates. The actual rate is expected to lie within 95 percent of the intervals constructed from repeated samples of the same size and selected in the same manner as the BAM sample.

BAM Denied Claims Accuracy Footnotes

Footnote 1

Estimated rates apply to less than the total population of [sample type] denials due to the state not pulling a sample for x weeks.

Condition: There is no record in the b_dca_comparison table of the UI database for one or more batches specified in the batch range for sample type y, where b_dca_comparison.samptype = 2 (monetary), 3 (separation), or 4 (nonseparation).

Footnote 2

Estimated rates for [sample type] denials are based on data collection procedures that were not completely in accordance with the program methodology prescribed in ET Handbook No. 395, 5^th edition.

Condition: Based on program monitoring conducted by ETA’s national and regional offices, this footnote will be generated from a footnote look-up table for each sample type: 2 (monetary), 3 (separation), or 4 (nonseparation).

Footnote 3

The state completed x percent of the [sample type] denials sample cases within 90 days. The program standard is 85 percent completed within 90 days.

Condition: The percentage for sample type y, where b_dca_master.samptype = 2 (monetary), 3 (separation), or 4 (nonseparation), will be calculated using the same method used in the BAM DCA Case Completion and Time Lapse report. Cases not meeting the BAM DCA population definition (b_dca_master.program = 8 or 9) or withdrawn claims (b_dca_master.actflag = 8) are not counted in calculating state time lapse rates.

Footnote 4

x percent of the [sample type] denials sample cases were not completed when this report was prepared. This exceeds the program requirement that no more than 2 percent of the cases for the year are incomplete 120 days after the end of the IPIA reporting year.

Condition: The percentage is based on the number of BAM DCA cases that were not completed (b_dca_master.supcomp is NULL) by COB October 28, YYYY+1, divided by the number of valid cases selected for BAM DCA weekly samples during IPIA YYYY (BAM batches YYYY27 through (YYYY+1)26). Cases that do not meet the BAM DCA population definition (b_dca_master.program = 8 or 9) or withdrawn claims (b_dca_master.actflag = 8) are not counted in calculating state case completion rates. A percentage will be calculated for each sample type y, where b_dca_master.samptype = 2 (monetary), 3 (separation), or 4 (nonseparation).

This footnote will be generated only if the user specifies an annual report when the user specifies the batch range (YYYY27 through (YYYY+1)26).

Footnote 5

The annual sample of [sample type] denials is x cases below the allocated annual sample of 150 BAM DCA cases per year. The precision of the data might be reduced due to the failure to sample at the prescribed level.

Condition: The state’s annual sample selection is 8 or more cases below its allocated annual sample of 150 cases. Cases that do not meet the BAM population definition (b_dca_master.program = 8 or 9) are not counted toward meeting the annual sample allocation. This footnote will be generated from a footnote look-up table for each sample type: 2 (monetary), 3 (separation), or 4 (nonseparation).

This footnote will be generated only if the user specifies an annual report when the user specifies the batch range (YYYY27 through (YYYY+1)26).

Footnote 6

The sampling frames from which the [sample type] denials samples were selected may not include all of the determinations that meet the definition for inclusion in the DCA population or may include records that do not meet the DCA population definition. This limits the degree to which inferences about the population can be made from BAM DCA data.

Condition: The size of the DCA population for IPIA 2018 varies by more than the statistical control limit from the benchmark population. The benchmark populations are:

• Monetary: Percent of determinations denied in ETA 218 report times number of new initial claims (intrastate and interstate liable) plus transitional claims in ETA 5159 report.

• Separation: Percent of determinations denied in ETA 207 report times number of separations in ETA 9052 report.

• Nonseparation: Percent of determinations denied in ETA 207 report times number of nonseparations in ETA 9052 report.

This footnote will be generated from a footnote look-up table for each sample type: 2 (monetary), 3 (separation), or 4 (nonseparation).

This footnote will be generated only if the user specifies an annual report when the user specifies the batch range (YYYY27 through (YYYY+1)26).

5