AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
(Michael McGrady) — Over 200,000 pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) claims in Nevada are ineligible, the state’s employment department said this week.
The Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR) said over the next few weeks it will be sending out 217,500 ineligible claim notices.
“DETR has identified a large number of questionable claims,” the department said in a press release Thursday. “In order to best address suspected fraud, DETR has flagged and reviewed these claims.”
“Where a claimant’s identity cannot be validated, DETR has determined these claims have been found to be ineligible and they won’t be processed further,” the department added. According to DETR, a claimant that was issued a denial can contact the department and appeal the decision.
The department has services in place to help identify and verify applicants and their identity through the PUA application.
“Staff have been working to verify the identity of PUA claimants. If identity cannot be validated, these cases have been determined to be ineligible for benefits,” DETR said. “Individuals have the right to appeal this determination.”
Appeals against a denial claim take about 11 days, according to the agency. Then, the appeal will receive a notice of determination in regard to the status and validity of the claim for PUA benefits. The agency also announced that it is working to expose potential fraud schemes.
“Claimants are reminded to continue to file weekly claims for unemployment benefits while the appeal is pending in order to receive payments if the appeal is decided in their favor,” the agency said.
Nevada has seen over 700,000 initial unemployment claims so far in 2020. The state’s unemployment rate for August was 13.2%.
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