The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide families with up to $9,000 to cover part of the costs to hold funerals for families whose loved ones died of COVID-19.
The agency tasked with natural disaster response began accepting applications for financial assistance from families on Monday. If selected to receive the funds, families will have to provide a record of funeral expenses and the deceased person’s death certificate that confirms they died of COVID-19. The maximum amount that a family can be reimbursed for a single funeral is $9,000.
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Families will also have to show financial records of any assistance granted from other sources, such as burial insurance plans or other government agencies. The amount of financial assistance granted to the family will decrease if the family is already receiving help with the costs. Some of the services the federal government will reimburse for include burial plots, headstones, transfer of remains, clergy services, cremation, and others.
FEMA has launched similar efforts to assist in funeral costs in the past following federally declared natural disasters, such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This program’s funding came in part from the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package enacted in December, providing the agency with $2 billion to start. FEMA was given another $50 billion when Democrats passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan last month.
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The site has been inundated with users since the agency began accepting applications on Monday morning, and officials are asking users to “be patient as we work to correct these issues and have all their important documents ready when they call to apply.”
