B08/1991 STATUTORY PENSION INCREASE 21 MARCH 1991 PHARMACEUTICAL AND DEEMING BUDGET INITIATIVES CPI ADVICES - ADP PROCESSING

DATE OF ISSUE:

STATUTORY PENSION INCREASE 21 MARCH 1991 PHARMACEUTICAL AND DEEMING BUDGET INITIATIVES CPI ADVICES - ADP PROCESSING

INTRODUCTION

1.The Statutory Pension Increase effective 21 March 1991 will be combined with the Pharmaceutical Phase 3 Implementation, the Deeming Conversion and CPI Advices exercises.  References to these Budget Initiatives and the CPI Advices exercise have been included for information only, please refer to the separate Departmental Instructions issued by Income Support Branch for detailed information.

2.Changes for the 21 March 1991 Statutory Increase involve variations to the following pension types:

.Disability Pensions

.War Widows' pensions

.AMS Pensions under (old) Reg.  32, 34, 35AA

.Service Pensions and Allowances, the fringe benefit income

limits

.Increase in Rent Assistance Threshold.

TIMETABLE

3.Listed below is a brief timetable.  A more detailed schedule is at Attachment 1.

.The SI Processing is scheduled for the weekend 23-24 February.

.Cut off for Payday 44 (7 March) will be Tuesday 19 February at the usual time for Western Australia and South Australia and 5.00pm Sydney time for all other States.

.The last available PMF update for Payday 45 (21 March) for all States prior to the SI processing will be Thursday 21 February at 2.00pm Sydney time for all States.

.On Friday 22 February no daily processing will occur. It will recommence on Monday 25 February 1991.

.The PIPS system will be withdrawn at 4.00pm Friday 22 February, Sydney time.  PIPS will be available on Monday 25 February.

.The PIPS and PMF systems will be unavailable over the weekend 23-24 February.

GENERAL OPERATIONAL OUTLINE

4.The Pharmaceutical and Deeming conversion/implementation exercises will be conducted before the SI processing commences.  The processing for pension rate changes will be divided into groups of those cases which will be processed automatically and those cases which will require manual action.

5.For the Disability Pension and Allowances processing automatic increases to pension rates will be effected where possible using programs which apply the new rates of pension and allowances to the PMF and CDB.

6.For the Service Pension processing income/assets details and personal assessment particulars held on the CDB will be referenced for the automatic reassessment of pension and preparation of variation transactions for update of the PMF.  Changes to other elements of assessment e.g.  increase in the fringe benefits limits will also be effected automatically.

SPECIAL FEATURES AND SUGGESTIONS

Miscellaneous Codes

7.Any case that is processed on a miscellaneous or joint pension code not shown in the new code book will fail Edit/Update.

Manual DP Listings

8.Manual DP cases will be listed on the same weekend as the automatic disability pension and service pension updates.  Manual DP cases require processing through PIPS.

Fringe Benefits & Treatment Entitlement Cards

9.Fringe benefit income limits will increase and it is expected that some pensioners will become eligible for fringe benefits.  Issue of health cards and recall of pharmaceutical cards will be processed through the normal batch system following the SI.

Pre Increase Action

10.It is suggested that the following steps be undertaken prior to the computer runs for the SI to help processing progress as smoothly as possible:

.Check that all Pension Payment Codes are valid as per the current Code Book.  Any invalid payment codes as a result of the implementation of Payments Phase 1 will produce a manual case for Branch action.  (These will be listed in Group 900 on the action schedules - see paragraph 16.)

.Minimise the number of cases in frozen status (SB or PY status).

.Arrange an early cut-off (say one week) for processing of cases requiring MS submissions by pension examiners to allow time for those cases to be received and actioned by Pension Payments.

.Clear outstanding MS cases.

.Resolve any SP Compare reconciliation edits.

.Arrange a cut-off date one or two days before automatic processing commences for final automatic authorities to Pension Payments.

Trial Assessment Facility

11.The Trial Assessment screen with the new SI rates and other assessment changes (excluding Deeming) will be available by 18 February.  The revised Trial Screen with the Deeming changes will be available from Monday 25 February.

Limitation Cases

12.Cases for which limitations are in force will have pension increased automatically, but the limitation amount will not be adjusted.Identification of these cases and adjustment to the limitation amount must be arranged locally.

PNG Pension Rates (Queensland Only)

13.The PNG pension rates effective from 21 March 1991 willbe forwarded when available.

Rent Assistance Threshold

14.The Rent Assistance Threshold will be increased from $40.00 to $50.00 per fortnight as announced in the August 1990 Budget.

PENSION RATE CHANGES - DISABILITY PENSIONS AND/OR ALLOWANCES PROCESSING

Full Rate Code with Limitation

15.Increases to rates of disability pensions and associated allowances, as well as certain AMS pensions and war widows' pensions, will be processed in the following three stages:

.Rates of disability pensions and allowances, war widows' pensions and certain AMS pensions will be increased automatically, except where payment is recorded under a  miscellaneous code.

.Cases requiring manual processing will be selected and listed.

.Cases requiring manual processing will be examined and updated through PIPS before cut-off for payday 21 March.

Action Schedules

16.Action schedules of DP cases requiring manual examination and variation by examiners will be produced for the following action groups:

Group ContentsReference Number

Miscellaneous and joint cases — 900

AMS pension with a suspension segment — 400

Widows' and orphans' pension with a

suspension segment — 300

Disability pension cases with a suspension — 200

segment.  Some of these cases may include

an SP component, but the suspension

and/or DP segments only should be adjusted.

Carers pension with a suspension segment — 100

NOTE:A record may belong to more than one group.  Where this happens, the case will normally be listed once with the group of the highest reference number.

General Procedure for These Manual Adjustments

17.Where possible, disability pension segments will be increased to the new rates before cases are listed for manual action.  For EATS and Composite cases, examiners will be required to update the adjustment recorded on PIPS, and alter the amount of limitation on the schedule.  For suspension cases, examiners will update the suspension segment on the schedule.  Cases with joint or miscellaneous codes will require a code change to record a new pension code which is valid according to the code book.  If any component of a DP segment is to be adjusted, processing through PIPS will be required.  Processing of the case will be as follows:

.Update the new disability pension details via the DP screen.

.Complete Advices (AD) screen.

.Submit (SU) the case to MS/5O, write the consecutive number onto the schedule and forward to the Delegate for determination.

AMS cases listed on schedules will require manual update action for PMF rates only.

Keyfast Description

18.MS (multiple segment) and manual transactions should be transmitted to the Computer Centre in the normal pension payment daily stream i.e.  keyfast description $ PENSIO, prior to the cut-off for payday 21 March.

Parameter Cards

19.Parameter cards and rate tables have been prepared at Central Office to effect the automatic updating of Disability Pension and Allowances cases and list those requiring manual action.These cards will be input to the computer by Central Office.

PENSION RATE CHANGES - SERVICE PENSION PROCESSING

20.The increases to service pension and allowances will be effected automatically on the PMF wherever possible.  Schedules will be produced to enable manual reassessment of any cases on the CDB or PMF which cannot be processed automatically.  The SI processing will also generate pension payment transactions for automatically processable cases.  Cases listed for manual action will need to be processed through PIPS before cut-off for payday 21 March.

Processing of automatic cases

21.The SI processing will generate Pension Payment transactions updating the rates of service pension and allowances for cases recorded on the CDB with an automatic method of assessment by:

.Obtaining income/asset details and assessment information from the CDB.

.Reassessing the service pension and allowances using the new SI rates, Deeming information and the existing assessment details.

.Generating transactions for update of the PMF in respect of rate variations, changes in payment category and/or pension code.The system does not update the effective date, so that on display of the case, the previous effective date will be shown (ie not 21 March 1991).

Processing of manual cases: 25 February to cut-off for payday 21 March 1991.

22.The processing of manual cases should be done in the above period and cases are to be processed through PIPS.  Cases listed for manual action should be reassessed using the SI rates, updated through an action record, and a D2650, or D408 or other coding sheet produced to effect the PMF variation.  If coding is done on an action schedule, the consecutive number for the PIPS action should be noted on the schedule.

23.Frozen Actions - when cases in PY or SB status are encountered by the SI program, update is prohibited because the record is frozen.  The cases need to be unfrozen and re-processed as follows:

.Return case to RI status (by using Cancel Determination and Cancel Submission as appropriate).

.Re-process case using the SI as the last variation (if effective date is prior to the SI date enter arrears line for effective date).

.Submit to MS or DA as appropriate and prepare D408 in MS cases.

.Determine case as per normal.

24.PMF/CDB incompatible cases - cases will need to be investigated to determine the cause of the discrepancy, then the CDB or PMF corrected as necessary before the SI action can be processed. The discrepancies will normally relate to people/suffixes on the CDB and PMF.

25.Manual Methods of Assessment - cases need to be manually re-assessed and processed through the system as normal.  Where a case involves a suspension or a manual DP component, it should be processed through an MS submission and a D408 raised to record the manual coding.

26.Cases Suspended on the PMF - where a service pension, Other or Total suspension occurs on the PMF, the SP rate and suspension rate should be re-assessed, the case processed through an MS submission and the rates varied as necessary.  The schedule is produced in PMF transaction format and should be used to code the adjustments. The schedules should be endorsed with the MS consecutive number generated by the system, and be signed by the Delegate - this obviates the need to prepare a D408 for these cases.

27.Manual DP Recorded on the CDB - this schedule lists in PMF transaction format cases with the following DP codes on the CDB.

.EATS

.COMP (Composite/Proviso 'C')

.DIV 10 (Members of the Defence Force),

.MAN, MISC, CONVERSION DATA

The DP should be examined, the new rates entered through the DPEN format, and the case submitted through MS. Rates of both SP and DP (where not updated automatically) should be varied on the schedule.

The schedules should be endorsed with the MS consecutive number generated by the system and signed by the Delegate - this obviates the need to produce a D408 for these cases.

28.Assessment Errors - the assessment routine will produce information messages as an indication that certain action should be taken as a result of the re-assessment.  These cases should be examined and modified as necessary, as well as processing the SI increase.

OUTPUT

Advices

29.The quantity and complexity of the various advices to be printed as a result of the combined Deeming, CPI and SI exercises will result in advices being printed and distributed over several days. Listed below are the different types of advices to be produced:

.SI Advices - The usual advices to beneficiaries who have  fringe benefit changes as a result of the SI will be  produced.

.Deeming Provisions Exercise - A separate advice will be  forwarded to all clients who are affected by the Deeming  provisions. These pensioners will not receive an advice  from the normal SI exercise.

.CPI Advices Exercise - Special Automatic advices are to be  sent to all Beneficiaries who are on the maximum pension  rate and have no children.

30.The following variations will be included in the Deeming/SI advices:

.Pensioners who receive the usual fringe benefit change  advice as a result of the SI and have been deemed, will have  a further paragraph added to advise them that they also been  affected by the Deeming provisions .

.Pensioners in receipt of British Retirement Income (BRI) who  receive an advice from either the Deeming or SI exercises,  will have an extra paragraph inserted advising them they  will have their pension further reduced from 4 April 1991  (when the new notional exchange rate is effective).

Note:These variations do not apply to beneficiaries who receive a CPI advice only.

Daily Advices/Schedules

31.Advices (and Advice Schedules) produced from daily processing after SI will be divided into two groups

.Advices for clients who are not affected by the Deeming  provisions.  These advices can be despatched immediately.

.Daily advices for clients who are affected by the Deeming  provisions.  These advices will be printed daily, enveloped  in the Branch Office and held until advice from Central  Office that the Deeming letters from the SI/Deeming exercise  have been despatched.  Contact Collette Woodford on 06 289  6408 for timing of despatch.

Additional Schedules/Microfiche

32.Schedules should be available on Monday or Tuesday, 25-26 February. In addition to the usual SI Schedules, the following schedules and microfiche will be produced as a result of the combined exercises:

.Microfiche will be produced for the Edit/Update run of  Thursday 21/2/91 that will contain Pharmaceutical  Implementation changes.

.A schedule of cases requiring manual action as a result of  the Pharmaceutical Implementation.

.A schedule of beneficiaries who were affected by the Deeming  Provisions and were sent a Deeming advice.

.A schedule of beneficiaries who were sent a CPI Advice.

SI Schedules for Manual Action

33.The cases which cannot be processed automatically will be reported on schedules for manual action.

Manual cases are:

.Frozen actions (i.e.  cases in PY or SB Status).

.PMF/CDB incompatible cases.

.Manual methods of assessment (excluding Working Rule B).

.Cases suspended on the PMF.

.Manual disability pension cases.

.Assessment errors.

INFORMATION/SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSING SCHEDULES

34.A number of conditions may exist on the CDB which require additional investigation beyond the normal SI processing. The cases listed will already be automatically processed or will appear for action on the schedules.  The conditions are detailed below:

.Last SI not processed - the case was not processed in the  last SI that effected the case.  Check the case to ensure  that appropriate A/L or SI action was taken.

.Old SI process codes deleted - before any SI processing  takes place, any old SI process code (S183) will be deleted.   Action on these will depend on the reason the old process  exists, but most will not require any corrective action.

.Manual arrears cases - cases where the current effective  date is in advance of the SI date. These cases need to be  examined to ensure that any adjustment for the period  between the SI date and the current effective date is made.

.Data Base Error detected - these cases will fail SI  processing, and should be referred immediately to ADP for  action.

.Transaction Generation Errors - the equivalent of Interface  errors in normal daily production.  Corrective action is the  same as for Interface errors.

35.Service pension cases submitted to MS should be transmitted to the computer centre via the normal pension payment daily stream.

NCC IMPLICATIONS

36.The Benefits Applications Branch will provide the NCC with a detailed schedule of the computer runs necessary for this exercise and the Budget Initiatives being implemented concurrently.

CONTACT OFFICERS

37.The Benefits contact officers for this exercise are

Glenys Bulters telephone(06) 289 6019 (Business Hours)

Ken Stewart(06) 282 4794 (After Hours)

PETER HAWKER

NATIONAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR

BENEFITS

ATTACHMENT 1

STATUTORY INCREASE, PHARMACEUTICAL DEEMING & CPI

ADVICES - TIMETABLE

Monday 18 February 1991 — Trial Screen with the new rates will be available.

Tuesday 19 February 1991 — Cut off for Payday 44 (7/3/91) for all States (WA               and SA at usual time, 5.00pm Sydney time for all               other States).  Fortnightly processing will be               conducted.

Wednesday 20 February 1991 — Pharmaceutical Phase 3 implementation exercise               (in the evening)

Thursday 21 February 1991 — Screens containing Pharmaceutical changes               available

Thursday 21 February 1991 — Last available PMF update for all States prior to SI               processing at 2.00pm Sydney time.

Friday 22 February 1991 — PIPS system will be unavailable from 4.00pm               Sydney time.

Sat/Sun 23-24 February 1991 — 1.  Deeming Conversion exercise

2.  New Pension Code file loaded.

3.  SI Processing

Monday 25 February 1991 — PIPS system with revised screens implemented for               Deeming available again.

Mon/Tues 25-26 February 1991 — Various Schedules will be available

From 25 February onwards — Advices produced for all affected beneficiaries               containingrevised details including any Deeming               variations.

From 25 February — Examiner action on manual SP and DP to cut-off               for payday 45 schedules.(21 March 1991)

25 February onwards — Daily Advices for Deeming affected pensioners               held until SI/Deeming advices have been               despatched.