111-2          UNDERPAYMENTS DISCOVERED DURING AN OVERPAYMENT DETERMINATION

If the caseworker discovers an underpayment for a past month in the process of determining a program loss, the underpayment must be listed on the Report of Claim Determination e-Form (GEN 95Report of Claim Determination) along with any overpayment. Do not authorize a supplemental issuance to correct the underpayment.

Note:

If a client-caused underpayment is discovered in the process of determining an overpayment, a supplemental issuance is not issued, nor is it used to offset the overpayment. See the policy manuals for more information.

The Claims Specialist will offset the overpayment by the amount of any agency-caused underpayment and take the appropriate action to notify the individual. If necessary, the Claims Specialist will issue a supplemental for the balance of the underpayment.

Example (applies to SNAPSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, ATAPAlaska Temporary Assistance Program, and APAAdult Public Assistance):

The caseworker discovers an individual failed to declare countable earned income on a June application, which resulted in an overpayment for the months of June, July, and August. In reviewing past months, the caseworker determines that the family also was underpaid for the month of September because the individual reported a decrease in unemployment insurance benefits that had not been timely processed.

In this situation, do not authorize the underpayment for September. List all of the overpayments and the underpayment on the GEN 95Report of Claim Determination e-Form, and then submit the form to the Claims Specialist. When the Claims Specialist establishes the claim, the overpayments will be offset by the underpayment. The Claims Specialist authorizes any remaining amount due to the individual.

For APA and Senior Benefits programs, if the caseworker discovers an underpayment during the overpayment determination and the overpayment is agency-caused (refer to the policy manual APA MS 482-2B and SB MS 363-2B for agency-caused overpayment situations), the underpayment is processed and the GEN 95 e-Form regarding the overpayment is sent to the claims unit. The caseworker will also send a completed APA Claims Budget Worksheet (APA 5) for APA overpayments. See Admin MS 111 for more information about program losses and claims collection.