Hi everyone, this is Dr. Nitin Chhoda and welcome to my channel. Thank you so much for being a
viewer. Thank you so much for being a subscriber. Earlier today I announced exactly where the
stimulus talks are at right now. And in this video I'm going to talk to the millions of our fellow
Americans who are on unemployment right now. Keep in mind many many unemployment benefits actually
expire at the end of this month. The PUA program is scheduled to expire at the end of this month
and the PEUC program which is the 13 week extension to benefits also expires at the
end of this month. In this video I'm going to help you prepare for what lies ahead
whether congress extends unemployment aid or not. You need to know what lies ahead of you
if congress extends benefits which by the way doesn't mean that the money will show up in your
bank account tomorrow and what you need to know if congress does not extend benefits. So with that
being said let's get started. My name is Dr. Nitin Chhoda with Ignition Time. I really appreciate you
watching. Thank you so much for being a viewer. Thank you so much for being a subscriber.
This channel, the Ignition Time channel is about the country, it's about the economy and it's
about your money. I want to help you prepare for a better future. Again, my name is Dr. Nitin Chhoda.
If you don't know anything about me please check out my video. You'll learn more about who I am,
what my journey has been like and why you should listen to me. Now I want our viewers
and subscribers to understand that our state unemployment systems are outdated,
they are overwhelmed and it's going to be very difficult for them to actually administer
new federal boosters. Keep in mind the original federal booster which was a $600 a week booster
was administered was programmed into the system but if they're going to do something complicated
like providing benefits based on someone's wages that's going to be very complex to program.
Which is why they're talking about a simple and a flat $300 a week booster on top of state
unemployment benefits. Even the $300 a week booster is actually going to be need to be
programmed into state unemployment benefit systems and that programming will not happen immediately.
It could take some time, some effort. It could take a few days, it could take a few weeks to
program that into the system. Remember if the house and the senate come to an agreement and if
the President signs a bill that becomes law the states still need time to administer benefits. So
the best case scenario assuming that a bill gets signed into law as early as next week,
the best case scenario would be the middle of January
before those benefits actually start flowing through to your bank account. Every state has
its own complicated mechanism of calculating unemployment benefits and administering those
benefits. So each state will then have to take the money from the federal government and pass it on
to unemployment benefit recipients even when a bill is signed into law. So I want our viewers
and subscribers to understand that A- things need to be decided up in DC. I talked about the game of
chess that is being played. It's a chess game that is being played by house speaker Nancy Pelosi,
by the senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and by the President. Yes,
everyone's at fault because they have not been able to come to a consensus which is why this is
like a game of chess to them but for our fellow Americans we're just you know most of our fellow
Americans who are dependent on unemployment aid are just waiting. Here's some information here's
some comments from michelle evermore who's an unemployment benefits expert she told cnbc
even a short lag of payments in early 21 could be catastrophic for those families and have long-term
consequences according to michelle she said we're going to see a wave of evictions poverty suicide
this is already a tough time of year for mental health people may end up going without medicine
it's really hard for me when i report stuff like this guys so just give me a second
people may have to go without medicine i i can't even imagine that my mother's a diabetic
and my mother takes medication for diabetes and you know and i know others who take individuals
i know other individuals in my family who take medication for cholesterol but anyway people
may end up going without med without medication exacerbating chronic health conditions possibly
uh sort of filing up possibly increasing debt in high interest rate credit cards getting payday
loans or going to pawn shops according to michelle evermore and michelle elmore said to expect delays
that could last several weeks in receiving these benefits once they are passed keep in mind the 600
weak federal booster that was passed into law in march uh i mean that seems like a lifetime ago
right well what you may not know or what you may not remember is it took 50 states almost one month
yes it took them almost one month to start paying out the 600 a week federal booster which means
that even if a bill is signed into law next week it will be the it will be the middle of january
at the earliest before that money actually hits your bank account now what happens if unemployment
benefits actually end well roughly two thirds of the individuals receiving unemployment benefits
at the end of november are doing so under the pua program and the peuc program which were basically
set up as a direct result of the cares act at the end of this month at the end of december 2020
unless congress acts to pass new legislation these individuals would simply not get any benefits they
would all their benefits would simply stop now the pua program which is for part-time workers
gig workers self-employed workers this is the one that's actually in danger because the
self-employed individuals could essentially lose all their benefits unless there is legislation
for extension they will not qualify for any benefits starting in january but
for those who are on the puc program there is a ray of hope if you're on the puc program
which is a 13-week extension that was to the state unemployment program that was set up
under the cares act there is a possibility that you may be able to roll into your state's
extended benefit program if your state has an extended benefit program so if the peuc program
comes to an end and if there is no legislation from congress for extension you need to talk to
your state about potentially participating in the state's extended benefit program now more recently
something more insidious something potentially a little bit more dangerous has been happening
many residents across the country in several states across the country have been asked to
repay their unemployment benefits yes repay the unemployment benefits on your screen you'll see
examples from all across the country of residents being asked to repay benefits that they've already
paid now this is happening specifically with the pua program the pandemic unemployment assistance
program and as you can see there are many examples all across the country the pua program was
was set up very quickly as a direct result of the cares act and it was done to quickly administer
unemployment benefits to individuals who are self-employed gig workers part-time workers
who were previously never eligible for unemployment benefits because the program was
put together quickly as you can see on your screen there are many cases of individuals
getting overpayment through administrative errors on top of that there's been fraud
in the state of california one billion dollars is the estimated fraud with the pua program in the
state of california in fact california had to shut down applications for an entire week in order to
be able to re-engineer their systems and improve identity verification there were actually examples
of inmates yes prisoners in california getting unemployment benefits so the pua program was set
up with the right intentions but it had a lot of loopholes in it which is why they were individuals
who got overpayments but the pua program with the pua program overpayments cannot be waived unlike
state unemployment benefits where there are some circumstances for waiver of overpayments but with
the pua program the state has to account for it with the federal government and therefore a lot of
individuals on the pua program have actually seen requests to pay back money when they've already
spent the money and because they were under the impression that they were eligible for the money
imagine being at the edge of a financial cliff imagine having received money and then spending it
for food to to make rent to be able to keep the lights on and then having the state hound you to
pay the money back is just an unbelievable situation and in recent months hundreds of
thousands of individuals all across the country like i showed you earlier have been asked to repay
their pua benefits and according to michelle evermore the issue is that the pua is an
entirely new program that was created in a matter of weeks as a result of the cares act
and states rushed to get the benefits out the door and may have released the funds incorrectly
in other words they made administrative errors guess what they now want their money back and
here's another thing many people who are applying for unemployment for the first time may have made
errors during the process so there could have been an error during the application process there
could have been an error during the administration process regardless if there was an error and you
receive pua funds you may be asked for the money back even though you've already spent the money
so this is what michelle evermore said in an article on cnbc by the way we'll provide you
with that article in the description section below michelle evermore stressed that individuals who
receive an overpayment notice and believe it to be an error or entitled to an appeal and should seek
legal services or an attorney with unemployment compensation expertise in their particular state
there are attorneys who specialize in unemployment compensation people with specific legal questions
concerning an overpayment notice may also qualify for free low-cost assistance from a local legal
services agency so make sure you google local legal services agency and let them know about
your particular situation start making a bunch of phone calls and michelle elmore also added that
legislation following a new stimulus package from congress could i say could we don't have
that legislation yet could allow states to waive the recovery of pua overpayments there have been
some senators who've actually pushed for that but right now as you know the big argument is
about stimulus checks and 300 a week benefits and all the state and local funding and liability
protection this is an important item but it is sort of lower down in the priority list right now
let me know what you think in the comment section below you'll find a link to all of our resources
in the description section below hopefully this will help you prepare for what is coming
if you are on unemployment hopefully congress comes to an agreement but if they do it's going to
be a few weeks if they don't you know what's going to happen and if you receive an overpayment notice
you have a sense of what to expect i also did another video where i talk about exactly what's
happening with overpayments and what you should know about it going forward so definitely check
out that video on our channel as well that's it everybody thank you so much for watching my name
is dr nitin choda with ignition time if you don't know anything about me please check out my video
you'll learn more about who i am what my journey has been like and why you should listen to me
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