TN 7 (09-17)

DI 60099.060 Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND) Benefit Rate Increase (BRI)

SSA performs a BRI run, usually in December of each year, to update title II benefits by applying a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to the primary insurance amount (PIA) and the monthly benefit amount (MBA). BOND beneficiaries, whose benefits are in offset during the BRI run, will not get the full COLA increase because SSA applies the COLA to the offset MBA and not the full MBA amount.

Therefore, the BOND stand-alone system (BSAS) recalculates the MBA by applying the COLA increase to the full MBA and then refigures the BOND offset amount. The BSAS triggers a manual adjustment credit and award data entry (MACADE) action to process the new MBA, and issues a notice explaining the increase in benefits. In dual entitlement cases, the BSAS also corrects the larger excess monthly benefit amount (LEMBA) and smaller actuarially reduced monthly benefit amount (SAMBA), and larger full monthly benefit amount (LFMBA) and smaller full monthly benefit amount (SFMBA), for those cases that did not update correctly due to the SSA BRI. The BSAS conducts the BOND BRI process approximately one (1) week after the national BRI process.

If BSAS is unable to automate a specific case, a processing limitation generates in BSAS for OCO to work the case manually through MACADE. The BTE determines the full MBA based on the new COLA PIA and subtracts the monthly offset amount (which is stored in BSAS). The new BRI MBA is effective with the BRI month and continuing. For BRI UTIs, see DI 60099.080. Do not code the DEMO and special message screens. The screens are already posted to the MBR.