TN 9 (07-24)
DI 60099.060 Benefit Offset National Demonstration (BOND) Benefit Rate Increase (BRI)
PROCEDURE IS OBSOLETE
BOND Project is over
The BOND processing office L5R is no longer operating, access to the data required
to make determinations is no longer available. All BOND decisions are final as beneficiaries
are officially outside of their appeal period. Any reconsiderations should be considered
automatic denials.
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.