Michigan paid $245M to the dead, jailed and ineligible

Michigan’s unemployment agency made $245.1 million in potentially improper payments over a span of almost three years, according to the Michigan Auditor General.

Some of the payments went to dead people, others to people who were in jail, prison or long-term care facilities. Others went to state of Michigan employees or contractors.

The improper payments were made between January 2020 and October 2022.

“UIA (the Unemployment Insurance Agency) did not identify and/or took no action to assess the appropriateness of these payments,” the audit reads.

The unemployment agency still paid $1.7 million to claimants “even after finding they were incarcerated or deceased,” the audit reads.

The $245 million breaks down as follows:

• $177.7 million to claimants under 16 and over 80
• $5.475 million to employees or contractors of the unemployment agency and the state department of labor
• $35.6 million to 4,959 incarcerated people
• $19.8 million to 3,002 dead people
• $6.5 million to people in long-term care facilities

Read the audit for yourself