EEOICPA BULLETIN NO. 06-0168
Issue Date: September
2, 2005
________________________________________________________________
Effective Date: 2,
2005August 26, 2005September 2, 2005
________________________________________________________________
Expiration Date: 2,
20065August
26, 2006September 2, 2005
________________________________________________________________
Subject: ECMS Procedures related to Co-located FABIssuing multiple payments to the same payee in ECMS E..
Background: Under
Part E, claimants can receive compensation from three possible areas: lump sum compensation (specifically awarded
to a survivor if the employee’s covered illness was a significant factor in aggravating,
causing, or contributing to the employee’s death); wage loss; and impairment.
On
Cases may require
multiple decisions to address the
different types of compensation awarded under Part E. Multiple decisions may require issuance of multiple payments to the same payee.
Until now, ECMS did not have the capability to
allow the district offices to issue multiple payments to the same payee. All cases in which more
than one monetary award
was made under Part E had to be
processed in the National
Office. With the
latest release of ECMS, the district offices will now have the capabilities to
create, certify, verify, and authorize multiple payments to the same payee in
ECMS E. While the payment processing procedures
are virtually unchanged, there have been some modifications to ECMS E. ThisAs the (Draft)
Federal (EEOICPA) Procedure Manual discusses, certain
District Office (DO) Claims Examiners (CEs) are designated to continue DO
development on certain claims while the cases are at the Final Adjudication
Branch (FAB) awaiting a final decision. This group of designated CEs is referred to as
the “Co-located FAB.” The individuals
within the Co-located FAB will be referred to as secondary CEs. The Co-located FAB CEs will be referred to as
secondary because the FAB CE (or hearing representative) will be considered the
primary CE while the case is in FAB’s jurisdiction. ECMS Release 6 will allow the case screen in ECMS to reflect the Co-located
FAB’s involvement with the case, as well as allow the secondary CEs to enter
status codes and other information into ECMS
while the file is assigned to a FAB District Office location in ECMS. This bulletin provides written
guidance regarding on the
ECMS procedures that are to be
followed regarding the Co-located FABissuing
multiple payments to the same payee in ECMS E. The
process is basically unchanged. Only
some ECMS screens have changed slightly, which
this bulletin addresses. Previous guidance regarding the EN-20, payment
transaction forms, verifying account information, etc. still stands.
Reference: (Draft) Federal (EEOICPA)
Procedure Manual, Chapter E-1100, EECMS
Release Notes (August 26October 12, 2005), EEOICPA Bulletin No. 02-13
Purpose: To
provide ECMS
procedures for processing
cases that require DO development while located at FAB.in which
multiple payments are issued to the same claimant.
Applicability: All Staff
Actions:
1. When the Final Adjudication Branch (FAB) issues a
final decision awarding compensation under
Part E, the FAB Claims Examiner (CE) or Hearing Representative (HR) must complete the Acceptance of Payment (AOP) information on the payee screen in
ECMS E. The AOP
information consists of the AOP sent date, which is the date the EN-20 is sent
out, and the AOP allocation amounts. The AOP
allocation amounts coincide with the final decision that is being issued. These amounts include lump sum compensation, wage loss, and impairment. The
default amount for these blank fields is $0.00.
Therefore, if no decision is made or
benefits are denied in one
of the three areas in that decision, no
input is needed for that field. How the AOP information is access has changed
slightly and is outlined below.
2. To add new AOP information for a
payee, the FAB CE/HR must go to the payee screen
in ECMS E, click on any field in the AOP section, and click “Insert.”
This will access the AOP information screen where the FAB CE/HR has
access to the AOP sent date and allocation amounts
(impairment,
wage loss, and lump sum). The FAB CE/HR
accurately completes these fields to coincide with the final decision. Once the
allocation amounts are entered, ECMS automatically totals the allocations and
populates the (total) AOP amount. The AOP amount cannot exceed $250,000 in ECMS E. The AOP amount field should match the amount on the EN-20, which reflects the total amount awarded
under that particular final decision. For example, a final
decision awards a widow $125,000 because the employee’s lung
cancer was a significant factor in aggravating, causing, or contributing to the employee’s
death. She also receives $25,000 for his
wage loss under
the same decision. The EN-20 would reflect a payment amount of
$150,00o0. The AOP screen would show “$125,000.00” in the lump sum
compensation field, “$25,000.00” in the wage loss field, and no amount paid in the impairment field. ECMS will total the amounts in the allocation fields and show “$150,000.00” in the
AOP amount field, which is the same amount on the EN-20.
3. If subsequent decisions are issued awarding
compensation, such as additional wage loss, a new AOP record will be
created
following the process discussed above.
This will create a new/separate AOP record that reflects the corresponding final
decision. All of the AOP records are retained
and accessible by accessing
the payee screen in ECMS, highlighting the associated AOP record and
pressing enter, or double-clicking. While the
AOP amount on each individual screen AOP shows
the total amount on that particular payment/decision, the system will total all
of the AOP amounts on the various AOP screens to ensure their totals do not
exceed $250,000. ECMS will
not allow input of
AOP amounts in ECMS E that exceed
$250,000.
4. When the completed EN-20 is received in the
district office, it is routed to the CE if payment is to be made via paper check or routed to the payee change
assistant (PCA) if payment is to be made via electronic funds transfer (EFT). The routing process has not changed. However, the payee screen,
utilized by both has changed. The EFT and address information have been put
onto two separate tabs. For an EFT, the PCA accesses the EFT
tab on the payee screen to enter the EFT data.
The EFT information includes the bank name, bank address, routing
number, account number ,
account name, account type, contact name, and contact phone number. The account number, routing number, account
name, and account type is verified with the bank whenever possible and documented in the case file.
5. When the CE receives the EN-20 for processing, he/she
must first enter the AOP
received date. As previously mentioned, the AOP information
section has changed. It is now on a table at the bottom of the
payee screen. Various AOP records can be viewed/accessed
from the table. To input the AOP received date, the CE accesses the
payee screen in ECMS, highlighting
the associated AOP record, which will have a blank AOP received date, and
pressing enter or double-clicking. This will access the AOP information. The CE can only add/edit the AOP
received date. He/she cannot add/edit the AOP sent date or AOP amount. He/she
inputs the date the EN-20 was date-stamped
as received in the office. Once the
CE saves the AOP received date, he/she closes out of the case in ECMS.
6. The CE completes the Payment Transaction Form
(PTF) in line with current procedures.
7. After the AOP received date has been entered and
the PTF has been accurately completed, the CE is ready to create the
compensation transaction in ECMS E. The CE selects “Compensation” from the main
menu at the top of the screen, followed by “Create Compensation Transaction” from the corresponding drop down
menu. The CE then enters the employee
and payee SSN and pushes the “Search”
button. The employee and payee
information should populate the “Add
Payment Transaction” screen.
8. At the
bottom of the compensation
creation screen,
the AOP sent and received dates will be viewable for any payment that is
waiting to be created. The CE highlights the associated AOP record and selects “Create Payment.”
If a previously
voided payment that is eligible for re-issue exists (e.g. check
was never received, EFT rejected because of an erroneous routing number), the
“Create Payment” button will change to a “Re-issue Payment” button that can be
selected, when
the corresponding AOP record is highlighted. As always,
if information needs corrected on the payee screen, such as routing number or
street address, the PCA needs to complete this prior to the payment being re-issued.
9. When the “Create Payment” (or “Re-issue Payment”) button is pressed, the system will force the CE to confirm
the allocation amounts by entering the amounts
for impairment, wage loss, and lump sum and pressing “OK.” If the allocation amounts do not match the
amounts entered by the FAB CE/HR, an error message will appear stating “The allocation amounts entered do not match the AOP
allocation.” If this occurs, the CE checks the
amounts he/she is entering for
accuracy. If it is determined to be a FAB error, the case file is returned to the FAB so the allocation amounts can be corrected. A transfer
sheet is created that
contains a note explaining the
needed AOP allocation correction. Correction
of this information by the FAB
CE/HR is to be considered a priority task. ECMS allows the FAB CE/HR to change the
allocation amounts in the impairment, wage loss, and lump sum fields at any time prior to the creation of the
associated payment. After the payment has been created, the FAB CE/HR
has the ability to redistribute the allocation amounts, as long as the total
AOP amount for the associated payment does not change. After
the requested corrections
are made, the case
file is immediately transferred back to the district
office CE to complete
the payment.
710. If no errors
occur and the AOP allocation amounts are input, this
takes the CE to the compensation screen, which is unchanged. The
process is also unchanged. The CE
enters the routing number, account number, account type, and payment amount for
an EFT on the compensation screen and “Saves” the record.
For a paper check, the CE enters the payment amount and changes the
address (if the
check is going to a payment only address) on the
compensation screen and
“Saves” the record. The CE then completes
the appropriate portion
of the certification section on the PTF and forwards the case file to the “certifier”, which is a senior or supervisory
claims examiner.
811. The process
of certifying, verifying and authorizing payments for the Senior/Supervisory CEs,
Fiscal Officers and District Directors,
respectively has
remained unchanged.
2. Once a case is transferred to the FAB, the
FAB CE/Hearing Representative (HR) must be aware if any district office
development is needed on any portion of the case. The FAB CE/HR will become aware of such
issues because of the Co-located FAB development memorandum. However, they may also become aware of issues
during their review process. If it is
determined that district
office development is needed, the FAB CE, HR or Manager
must complete the D l. The fields that
need completedion in this section are If sothe “CE2”
and “CE2 Assign Dt” fields. The “CE2” field
represents the Co-located FAB CE (secondary CE), that is
designated in the Co-located FAB development memorandum to complete the district office development
necessary while the case file is assigned to FAB.To complete the secondary CE assignment, the
appropriate Co-located FAB CE is selected from the drop down menu. The FAB CE/HR tabs over to the CE assign
date, which automatically populates with the current date and time. (This field can be manually input if needed.)
Note: The DD must keep the FAB Manager informed how secondary
CE assignments are designated in case the FAB
comes across secondary development that is needed and must designate a secondary CE without the
guidance of the Co-located FAB development memorandum.
3. Each Co-located FAB unit will have a code
that will automatically populate the “DO2” field. The “DO2” field represents the district office that is
handling the co-located FAB development.
This field is populated when the “Co-located Development” section is
activated in ECMS. The associated codes
are:
·SEF –
Seattle Co-located FAB
·CLF –
Cleveland Co-located FAB
·JAF –
Jacksonville Co-located FAB
·DEF –
Denver Co-located FAB
·NAF –
National Office Co-located FAB
Note: The
CEs/HRs will not need to complete this field, but it will be used for various reporting
needs.
4. When
the Co-located development section has been completed in ECMS, it will be
highlighted in white. This indicates
that there is a simultaneous ownership in ECMS.
Both the FAB CE/HR and the secondary CE will be able to make entries
into ECMS without having to transfer the case file in the system.
Note: The
FAB CE/HR and the secondary CE will need to coordinate with each other to
ensure that the file is where it is needed and the appropriate work can be
completed on the case. If both the FAB
CE/HR and the secondary CE need the actual file, the FAB CE/HR’s need takes
precedence.
5. Once
the Co-located Development section is activated and a secondary CE is assigned,
any outstanding call-ups in ECMS from the DO CE will be automatically
re-assigned to the secondary CE. Any
call-ups that the FAB CE/HR enters will still function and be viewable for that
FAB CE/HR.
6. Every secondary CE in the Co-located FAB will
have a three character location identifier of DO1-DO9. (More location codes will be added if
necessary.) As always, the case location
code and case file jacket must be annotated to reflect any change in the physical
file’sfile’s physical location.
7. After the case is transferred out by the DO,
and assigned to the FAB awaiting a Final Decision, the District Office
assignment will remain a FAB location code (FAC, FAJ, FAS, FAD, or FAB) for as
long as the case is in the FAB’s jurisdiction, even if the secondary CE is
working on the case. The physical case
file can be located with a FAB employee or a secondary CE while the District Office listed
in ECMS is one of the FAB location codes.
8. The secondary CE is to conduct all necessary
development on all outstanding claim elements not related to the decision
currently in front of the FAB CE/HR, and code ECMS appropriately to reflect
those actions for the duration of the FAB review process. The secondary CE also determines when there
is enough information available to issue a recommended decision (RD).
·If FAB
completes their review process and the district
office development issues are not completed with a
recommended decision, the secondary CE ceases development. The secondary CE then prepares a memorandum
to the DD explaining what development actions have been taken and what future
actions are required to address any outstanding issues. This
memorandum is important because outstanding DO call-ups will not be re-assigned
back to the DO (though they will be viewable).
·If the secondary
CE determines that there is enough evidence to support a RD on any outstanding
claim elements, he/she issues the RD and keeps the file at FAB.
9. When the case file is ready to be returned to
the DO, the person transferring the case file out of the office will press the
“Unassign CE2” button in the Co-located Development portion of the case
screen. This will deactivate the
co-located development.
Disposition: Retain until incorporated in the
Federal (EEOICPA)
Procedure Manual.
PETER M. TURCIC
Director, Division of Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation
Distribution List No. 1: Claims Examiners,
Supervisory Claims
Examiners, Technical Assistants, Customer
Service
Representatives, Fiscal Officers, FAB
District Managers,
Operation Chiefs, Hearing Representatives,
District Office Mail
& File Sections