Effective Dates: 2/17/2022 - Present
Identification Number:
| EM-22011
|
| Intended Audience: | All RCs/ARCs/ADs/FOs/PSCs/OCO/OCO-CSTs |
| Originating Office: | DCO OPSOS |
| Title: | Lapse in SSA T2 Contract with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) |
| Type: | EM - Emergency Messages |
| Program: | All Programs |
| Link To Reference: | See References at the end of this EM. |
|
Retention Date: August 17, 2023
A. Purpose
The purpose of this EM is to inform the field office (FO) and the processing center (PC) technicians of a lapse in the SSA’s T2 contract with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) beginning September 1, 2021 and to provide interim California EDD development instructions.
B. Background
Based on the data exchange agreement between the SSA and the California EDD, the SSA can obtain the EDD payment verification through the SSA EDD Request website. This website provides a web-based system for requesting state disability, unemployment payment information, and other records from the California EDD for both T2 and T16 cases. This application is available to authorized users nationwide and is explained in POMS DI 52135.030H.
C. Problem
Due to legal reasons, there is a lapse in the T2 contract with the California EDD beginning September 1, 2021. As such, the SSA cannot obtain payment records through the SSA EDD Request website until further notice.
This problem does not affect the T16 requests on the SSA EDD Request website.
Effective September 1, 2021:
- Do NOT submit any T2 EDD request on the SSA EDD Request website until further notice.
- The SSA EDD Request website remains unchanged and operational for T2 requests; however, T2 requests submitted on the SSA EDD Request website will not be processed by the California EDD.
There is no expected timeframe on when the T2 contract can renew. The Office of Acquisitions and Grants is discussing the contract with the Office of the General Counsel. Any change to the status will be shared when it becomes available.
D. Interim California EDD Development Instructions
Follow the interim EDD development instructions below to prevent improper payments.
1) Continue to process and develop for evidence as usual using other sources (i.e., the NH or representative) following guidelines and timeframes outlined in:
2) The NH remains the primary source of securing evidence of the State Disability Insurance (SDI) payments from the California EDD.
3) If the NH does not have evidence, advise the NH to obtain verifications through one or more of the following methods:
4) Unless the exception below exists, always obtain evidence.
EXCEPTION: If the NH alleges “no filing” of SDI from the California EDD, following DI 52140.001A.c, obtain the reason for not filing if the NH paid into SDI. Document the reason in the electronic folder (EF), if not already present.
When documentation is in the EF (e.g., DW01, RPOC, Paperless, etc.), accept the assumption that there is no SDI payment. No further verification is needed. Document the rationale in the EF.
NOTE: Allegations of denial or no payment from the California EDD do not meet this exception.
5) As usual, document all contact attempts and retain all proofs following DI 52145.015.
6) If no evidence is received after reasonable efforts to secure evidence, follow policies listed above to impose Public Disability Benefit (PDB) offset at the maximum weekly SDI rates or leave the PDB offset in effect accordingly.
Direct all program-related and technical questions to your Regional Office (RO) support staff or Processing Center (PC) Operations Analysis (OA) staff. RO support staff or PC OA staff may refer questions or problems to their Central Office contacts.
References:
DI 52135.030 California Public Disability Benefits (PDB)
DI 52140.001 Field Office (FO) Responsibilities for Workers’ Compensation/Public Disability Benefit (WC/PDB) Offset
DI 52140.010 Processing Center (PC) Responsibilities for Processing Workers’ Compensation/Public Disability Benefit (WC/PDB) Offset
DI 52145.000 Verification of Proof of Workers' Compensation/Public Disability Benefit (WC/PDB)
Workers' Comp Resource Intranet Page
EM-22011 - Lapse in SSA T2 Contract with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) - 2/17/2022