CHICAGO (WLS) -- A $5 billion loss: That's how much money should not have been paid out in unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
A pandemic, new payment programs and short-staffing created a huge problem for the state's unemployment system. Now there are recommendations to improve it.
"It really explains why people who qualified for these benefits had a hard time getting them," said state Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago.
Ford said people in need may have lost out, while fraudsters cashed in.
He's reacting to the Illinois Auditor General's report that the Illinois Department of Employment Security overpaid benefits by more than $5 billion during the pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
System failures, fraud and erroneous payments allowed the fraud to happen, and the ABC7 I-Team covered the crisis throughout the pandemic.
"I really need it bad. I just had a baby, a newborn in March, and then my job ended due to COVID," one person said.
The auditor's report found the state weakened fraud controls, so they could handle the surge in claims. This caused $6 million to be paid to deceased individuals and $40 million paid to people in jail.
https://abc7chicago.com/illinois-unemployment-in-il-office/13559016/
Yup....the government should run our healthcare....5 billion in 2 yrs
A pandemic, new payment programs and short-staffing created a huge problem for the state's unemployment system. Now there are recommendations to improve it.
"It really explains why people who qualified for these benefits had a hard time getting them," said state Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago.
Ford said people in need may have lost out, while fraudsters cashed in.
He's reacting to the Illinois Auditor General's report that the Illinois Department of Employment Security overpaid benefits by more than $5 billion during the pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
System failures, fraud and erroneous payments allowed the fraud to happen, and the ABC7 I-Team covered the crisis throughout the pandemic.
"I really need it bad. I just had a baby, a newborn in March, and then my job ended due to COVID," one person said.
The auditor's report found the state weakened fraud controls, so they could handle the surge in claims. This caused $6 million to be paid to deceased individuals and $40 million paid to people in jail.
https://abc7chicago.com/illinois-unemployment-in-il-office/13559016/
Yup....the government should run our healthcare....5 billion in 2 yrs
