Maryland Department of Labor Has Paid Over $2.2 Billion in Regular and CARES Act Federal Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Over 86% of Complete Claims Processed
Adjudication Backlog Cut By Nearly Half
Streamlining the Processing of 78% of Claims in Adjudication

BALTIMORE (June 11, 2020) – The Maryland Department of Labor (Labor) today provided an update about the processing and payment of unemployment insurance claims during the coronavirus pandemic, as we continue to make progress on ensuring every Marylander receives the benefits they are eligible for under federal law.

Paid Over $2.2 Billion in Benefits. From March 9 to June 6, the Maryland Department of Labor’s Division of Unemployment Insurance paid a total of $2,214,266,716 regular and CARES Act unemployment insurance benefits to claimants. This total amount includes $1,552,076,707 in regular benefits, $633,452,108 in PUA benefits and $28,737,901 in PEUC benefits. Maryland was one of the first states to pay out benefits under all three programs.

Over 86% of Unemployment Insurance Claims Processed. The U.S. Department of Labor requires the state to report both the initial regular claim and the CARES Act claim. 528,919 claims filed from March 9 to June 6 are considered complete and potentially eligible for payment because they have filed a weekly claim certification and are not duplicates. Per federal guidelines, individuals filing for PUA and PEUC must first file for and be declared ineligible for regular UI benefits, resulting in two claim filings for one Maryland claimant. We can only pay one claimant for one complete claim filed.

Of the 528,919 complete claims total, 458,115 (86.6%) have been processed with 361,578 (68.4%) receiving benefit payments and 96,537(18.2%) being denied benefits for not meeting state and federal program requirements. Of the claims that have already been denied, the large majority were denied because claimants had issues related to the separation from their most recent employer or were determined to be monetarily ineligible.

Adjudication Backlog Cut by Nearly Half. Since the week ending May 23, we have reduced the adjudication backlog of claims by 49%. There are currently 70,804 (13.4%) claims pending adjudication. These pending claims have one or more issues that are blocking claimants from receiving payment.

Streamlining the Processing of 78% of Claims in Adjudication. By the end of the week, we will have implemented an IT solution to facilitate the processing of over 78% of regular unemployment insurance claims pending in adjudication because of non-monetary issues, such as conflicting reasons for separation from their previous employer. These customers will receive a detailed email from our department outlining the next steps they need to take. The remaining claims pending in adjudication with multiple issues will continue to be resolved by UI professionals.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Fallon Pearre