The United States has overpaid benefits to many unemployed: now Americans are being forced to return thousands of dollars

The government is pushing Americans affected by the pandemic into disaster, forcing them to return unemployment benefits, reports MSN.

Photo: Shutterstock

Americans were forced to figure out how to pay their bills when their unemployment insurance payments ran out and the labor market had yet to recover from the pandemic. But now, for some, things have gotten even worse. Now states are demanding that people pay back some of their unemployment benefits because the clerks made a calculation error.

Brandel Cook lost his job during the pandemic and was left without his own business. Missouri is now demanding that he pay him back $ 4500.

“They want me to pay $900 in state benefits, which was $67 a week [$75 before tax], and federal pandemic unemployment benefits of $3600, which was $300 a week,” Cook said.

Cook is one of many Americans facing this problem. Over the past few months, people have increasingly complained about unfair demands for the return of unemployment benefits they received.

In February, a video by TikTok user thatgirlkelsie_98 went viral. In the video, she expressed disbelief at the state's demand that she return $4 of the $620 she received in benefits. As she put it, “How the hell can you live in a system that makes debt a way of life, even during a global pandemic?”

The US economy could be hit by lower consumer demand, a direct result of the unpredictability of the virus and the lack of funds due to the premature termination of unemployment benefits.

On the subject: Can you qualify for unemployment benefits if you were fired for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19

As the delta strain of coronavirus continues to spread across the country and the government turns to stricter measures to bring the pandemic under control, many working Americans are feeling insecure and worried about their financial situation. And the information that they must pay off some of the benefits that have kept them afloat during the pandemic only makes matters worse.

Why there were overpayments

Many state unemployment systems use outdated technology and were unable to cope with the sudden influx of unemployment claims made when the pandemic hit. Now, months later, these flawed systems have come to their senses and are flagging some of the payments as "erroneous."

According to a July report from the Government Accountability Office, the Treasury overpaid $12,9 billion in benefits during the pandemic — just 2% of all unemployment funds used during that time. According to the same report, only a small portion of this overpayment is due to fraud; most is a simple accounting or technical glitch.

But rather than take the blame for the mistake, the government is demanding that workers - many of whom are still in precarious financial situations - pay the money back.

Cook, who lives in Neosho, Missouri, was a bartender at a local movie theater when COVID-19 gripped the state. The pandemic has robbed him of his job, but unemployment benefits from the state and federal level helped him get through this difficult time. However, on March 27, 2021, Missouri determined that Cook, it turns out, was not eligible for the benefits he received.

“In determining the overpayment, they said it was the result of an inadvertent error or omission on my part,” Cook said. “To be honest, I have no idea how this could have happened and I’m sure I filled out the application form correctly.”

Cook added that he was not contacted about the error, but he received an email at 2 a.m. stating that he had new correspondence from the employment office. In the letter he was asked to return the money. He must appeal by September 23rd.

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It's not that easy with an appeal

To appeal you need time, as found out by Jennifer Reyes, a restaurant worker from Ohio who is struggling with her state's attempts to take away money from her for unemployment benefits paid to her. Reyes was out of work only briefly—from March 16 to May 26, 2020—but the benefits she received were still important to her. Now she is ordered to return everything.

“They claimed I owed 100% of the unemployment benefits I received, which was about $5000,” she said.

After several calls, Jennifer received an online appeal link that is currently being processed. She hopes that everything will be fine, but added that it is "pain" and that, in her opinion, it was done on purpose.

“I think the state is just hoping that enough people are alarmed by all the arrest warnings and will just return the payments so the state can get some money back,” Jennifer said. - It's buulshit".

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