Wanda is in Villa Rica, Ga. When her son-in-law died of COVID-19, she and her daughter had to deal with more than just their grief. They had to raise money for the cremation. The bill came to over $2,000 even without a funeral. The photo was taken by Mike Stewart.
Wanda and her daughter had to deal with more than just grief when Wanda's son-in-law died of COVID-19. They had to raise money for the cremation.
The bill came to over $2,000 even without a funeral. She and her daughter were told that the federal government reimburses families up to $9,000 for funeral costs for loved ones who died of COVID-19.
A deposit was received by June and the daughter was able to reimburse her mother for $1,974.
If this wasn't available, we would have been paying the money ourselves, said the elderly man. There was no red tape. This process was easy to handle.
The first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. occurred on January 20, 2020, and FEMA has spent over a billion dollars on funeral costs.
Her son-in-law was working on air conditioning systems in restaurants and theaters when he began to feel unwell. He went to the hospital after a few days at home and was put on a breathing machine. He died several weeks later.
She said that he could never overcome it.
The death certificates for those who died after May 16, 2020 must show that the death was caused by COVID-19.
Death certificates must include a signed statement from a medical examiner, coroner or the certifying official indicating that COVID-19 was the cause or a contributing cause of death for deaths that occurred in the early months of the Pandemic.
The percentage of individuals who have been reimbursed varies dramatically from state to state, from 40% in North Carolina to less than 15% in Idaho and Oregon.
Some funeral directors have taken on the task of notifying grieving families of the benefit.
David Shipper, owner of the Sunset Funeral Home, Cremation Center & Cemetery in Indiana, took out ads to let people know that help was available if they qualified.
A lot of money. He said they wanted to tell people about it. We stopped advertising a few years ago, but when a new family is grieving the death of a loved one, we tell them about the program.
The workers at the home will help families through the process if they need it, he said.
Many families are unaware of the benefit, but others may not want to revisit the pain of the death. The best time to get help is when planning the funeral.
If they spent the money and didn't want to open it again, they're more likely to take advantage.
Some of the biggest shares of FEMA reimbursement money are held by the largest states.
More than 74,000 deaths of carbon dioxide have been reported in Texas and California. Residents applied for more than $150 million in each state.
In Vermont, 123 people were awarded a total of about $704,000.
Expenses covered by the FEMA program include funeral services, cremation and interment, as well as the costs for caskets or urns, burial plots or cremation niches, markers or headstones, transportation or transfer of remains, clergy or officiant services, and the use of funeral home equipment or staff.
The program has been funded with federal funds. Online applications are not allowed.
It takes less than 30 days to determine if an individual is eligible after all required documents are received. The money may be deposited in a matter of days if eligibility is confirmed. It may take more time for applicants who request a check.
Ellen Wynn McBrayer, president of Jones-Wynn Funeral Home & Crematory in Villa Rica, Georgia, said that the reimbursement is one way of helping ease the emotional and financial burden that the Pandemic has wreaked on communities across the country.
One woman lost her mother, husband and one of her children to the disease in six months. One of the workers at the funeral home died of the virus.
She said that helping a grieving family is hard on a normal day. Covid has taken a lot of lives.
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