[UPDATE BELOW] The federal government will soon begin reimbursing funeral and burial costs for low-income families whose loved ones passed away from Covid-19. The measure to reimburse families is part of the Covid relief bill passed by Congress in December and includes $2 billion for individuals who were harmed by the pandemic by losing a loved one.
The reimbursement will come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but the program to reimburse families is still being set up and the details are still not very clear. For example, it isn’t yet known what the eligibility requirements for the reimbursements will be; whether it will be based on income alone or some other factors as well.
We do know that the funds will be made available for funeral and burial costs incurred between January 20, 2020 and December 31, 2020, but not for funeral that occurred in 2021.
According to the bill, FEMA will reimburse up to $7,000 in expenses for Covid-related deaths, but it isn’t clear whether there are set criteria to receive the full amount and if a family can receive a lower number if not all the criteria are met.
While a lot is still up in the air, it is likely that to apply, families will be required to show an original copy of the death certificate, which can be obtained by contacting the state or county vital records office. Funeral homes may also be able to provide it to the family. Additionally, strict documentation of all expenses related to the death will likely need to be submitted, and families who may be eligible should ensure that they have documented proof of those costs.
UPDATE 3/24/21: The FEMA Funeral Reimbursement Program is scheduled to launch April 1, 2021. FEMA is set to reimburse up to $7,000.00 for COVID-19 funerals.
Please keep funeral documentation.
For updated details, see here: http://FEMA.gov https://www.fema.gov/disasters
…..except no 2021! I’m sure there’s a lot of red-tape. Since they wrote off who knows how many deaths as Covid when they were not, this might be a good thing for those folks as well. Now let them stop burying us in taxes, because we’ll be paying more taxes and basic expenses than funeral costs. At some point (hopefully soon) this administration will be “buried” by the ever-growing majority of people who are beginning to see it for what it is: a communist coup d’état.
On Thursdays I work across the street from Maimonides Hospital including during COVID. During COVID 300 feet from the office were 7 large Refrigerated Trailers and several tents filled with dead bodies of the low income; it was a horror scene my associates didn’t want to come to work as they couldn’t take it. 10th ave was blocked off as well as 48 street till Ft. Hamilton, constantly new bodies were being wheeled into the trailers; the entire way home to Lakewood was traffic free, hardly any vehicles on the roads and bridges ( I had copies of my healthcare licenses with me just in case I was stopped and asked what I was doing on the road), when I arrived home to Lakewood my wife wouldn’t let me into the house, she made me wash my hands outside and leave my outer clothing by the door and go straight into the shower, so getting back to the subject , why is the government giving money to the low income for Funeral and other death expenses; most low income people did not spend a dime on their deceased relatives , they never even picked up their bodies to give them a proper burial, the bodies were in the trailers for weeks until the city had buried them in mass graves; give it to the people whom gave their relatives a proper burial.