Ohio’s UI Overpayments During Pandemic Near $6B

Ohio has overpaid $5.8 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits during the pandemic. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported that the overpayments were attributed to fraudulent and non-fraudulent activity in both traditional unemployment (100% paid by employers) and federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).

About $4.5 billion of the overpayments was tied to non-fraudulent PUA payments, as illustrated in these pie charts. Since the start of the pandemic, Ohio has paid more than $24 billion in UI benefits to more than 2.4 million claimants. 2/14/2022