Improper Payments in the Unemployment Insurance Program: Deceased Recipients

The purpose of this audit was to identify potentially improper payments the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) made to deceased individuals.We found that, of the approximately $8.57 billion in State and Federal Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit payments made by LWC, approximately $1.08 million (0.013%) was paid to 374 individuals after they died. Of that amount, $629,091 in payments could not have been prevented, $337,007 of the payments should have been prevented by LWC’s current controls, and $123,194 could have been prevented if LWC conducted a weekly match with the Louisiana Department of Health’s (LDH) death data.