$9,000 benefit for COVID funerals

[ecco]

The Federal Government, through FEMA, will pay up to $9,000 to cover funeral expenses for people who died of COVID.

As of today, there are 595,000 people listed as having died from COVID.

$9000
x
595,000 (includes eligible non-citizens)
____________
$5,355,000,000 (potential cost to taxpayers)

W T F !

I'm a progressive liberal, but this is going too far.

If I died of cancer, my family gets nothing. If I died from Covid, my family gets $9,000. This is insanity.

Apparently, FEMA has previously paid out funeral expenses for people who died in hurricanes, floods, fires, etc.

The only good thing is that there is a lot of red tape involved. COVID must be shown on the death certificate as the cause of death. Some states do not list a cause of death on death certificates.

Regardless.

IMHO this is outrageous.

Your thoughts?

 

[SigurdReginson]

Uhhhh...

D035 n0t c0mpu73.

 

[Revoltingest]

Uhhhh...

D035 n0t c0mpu73.

It.makes.sense.to.me.
Politicians.who.give.away.money.gain.power.
Covid.is.in.the.public's.eye,so.its.victims.get.money.

BTW,though.I.find.this.understandable,it's.wasteful.pandering.

 

[SigurdReginson]

It.makes.sense.to.me.
Politicians.who.give.away.money.gain.power.
Covid.is.in.the.public's.eye,so.its.victims.get.money.

BTW,though.I.find.this.understandable,it's.wasteful.pandering.

Yah... This might be one of those attempts at pandering that backfires. Seems outa touch to me.

 

[Stevicus]

It.makes.sense.to.me.
Politicians.who.give.away.money.gain.power.

The only caveat is that they don't have that power over those who are left out or don't get any money. Their opponents gain the power.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yah... This might be one of those attempts at pandering that backfires. Seems outa touch to me.

Perhaps....But.if.the.pandering.is.broad.enuf.it.could.
work....More.handouts.targeted.to.groups.are.in.the.works.

 

[Revoltingest]

The only caveat is that they don't have that power over those who are left out or don't get any money. Their opponents gain the power.

That.is.indeed.a.risk.
They.must.calculate.whether.there's.a.net.gain.or.loss.
Too.bad.that.it's.not.about.what.is.the.highest.&.best.
use.for.the.money,eh.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

The Federal Government, through FEMA, will pay up to $9,000 to cover funeral expenses for people who died of COVID.

As of today, there are 595,000 people listed as having died from COVID.

$9000
x
595,000 (includes eligible non-citizens)
____________
$5,355,000,000 (potential cost to taxpayers)

W T F !

I'm a progressive liberal, but this is going too far.

If I died of cancer, my family gets nothing. If I died from Covid, my family gets $9,000. This is insanity.

Apparently, FEMA has previously paid out funeral expenses for people who died in hurricanes, floods, fires, etc.

The only good thing is that there is a lot of red tape involved. COVID must be shown on the death certificate as the cause of death. Some states do not list a cause of death on death certificates.

Regardless.

IMHO this is outrageous.

Your thoughts?

links?

 

[Twilight Hue]

The Federal Government, through FEMA, will pay up to $9,000 to cover funeral expenses for people who died of COVID.

As of today, there are 595,000 people listed as having died from COVID.

$9000
x
595,000 (includes eligible non-citizens)
____________
$5,355,000,000 (potential cost to taxpayers)

W T F !

I'm a progressive liberal, but this is going too far.

If I died of cancer, my family gets nothing. If I died from Covid, my family gets $9,000. This is insanity.

Apparently, FEMA has previously paid out funeral expenses for people who died in hurricanes, floods, fires, etc.

The only good thing is that there is a lot of red tape involved. COVID must be shown on the death certificate as the cause of death. Some states do not list a cause of death on death certificates.

Regardless.

IMHO this is outrageous.

Your thoughts?

It shows just how politicized Covid has become and yet another reason to not to trust anything they say on the matter.

I can see a Covid foundation or something made to help research and more effective cures. Like the Diabetes or Cancer foundation. That would be the smart route, but it's clear not to expect it from today's leadership.

They would rather weaponize Covid for political brownie points over something more decent and useful.

 

[Altfish]

That.is.indeed.a.risk.
They.must.calculate.whether.there's.a.net.gain.or.loss.
Too.bad.that.it's.not.about.what.is.the.highest.&.best.
use.for.the.money,eh.

Why are all you posts showing full stops/periods instead of gaps between words? Or is it just on my computer?

 

[Stevicus]

That.is.indeed.a.risk.
They.must.calculate.whether.there's.a.net.gain.or.loss.
Too.bad.that.it's.not.about.what.is.the.highest.&.best.
use.for.the.money,eh.

Politicians, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

The Federal Government, through FEMA, will pay up to $9,000 to cover funeral expenses for people who died of COVID.

As of today, there are 595,000 people listed as having died from COVID.

$9000
x
595,000 (includes eligible non-citizens)
____________
$5,355,000,000 (potential cost to taxpayers)

W T F !

I'm a progressive liberal, but this is going too far.

If I died of cancer, my family gets nothing. If I died from Covid, my family gets $9,000. This is insanity.

Apparently, FEMA has previously paid out funeral expenses for people who died in hurricanes, floods, fires, etc.

The only good thing is that there is a lot of red tape involved. COVID must be shown on the death certificate as the cause of death. Some states do not list a cause of death on death certificates.

Regardless.

IMHO this is outrageous.

Your thoughts?

I think it actually does make sense. A lot of the people who died due to Covid died as a direct consequence of the American government's handling of the pandemic, so it makes sense that the hundreds of thousands of families should see at the very least some kind of financial assistance in dealing with the funeral expenses. If anything, I think it's probably the least they could do. These are exceptional circumstances.

That being said, I think just giving $9k to families to cover the expenses may not be the best way to do it. Perhaps there should be some kind of scheme that the government can negotiate with funeral homes to provide cut-price services in return for some kind of incentive? I dunno. I'm not an economics policy guy, but it makes sense to me that if the government wanted to feed a whole lot of people, they wouldn't just give everyone $20. They would get some chefs and suppliers together, incentivize them to produce a load of food at a cheaper rate, pay for the food, then ensure the food gets to people.

Or, am I talking crap?

 

[Revoltingest]

Why are all you posts showing full stops/periods instead of gaps between words? Or is it just on my computer?

Space.bar.is....
on the fritz
New.keyboard.is.on.order.

Big.problem....spell.check.(on.which.I.depend).not.werking.cuz.of.these.periods.

 

[Revoltingest]

Politicians, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

But.they.should.have.heartplugs.

 

[Kooky]

So let me get this straight, the American government is finally paying out reparations to make up for its catastrophic handling of the pandemic last year, and you guys are angry about this?

 

[Revoltingest]

So let me get this straight, the American government is finally paying out reparations to make up for its catastrophic handling of the pandemic last year, and you guys are angry about this?

- This is not reparations.
- Government has already been paying unemployment
benefits, & providing loans.
- A funeral needn't cost $9,000.
- There are better uses for the money than enriching the funeral industrial complex.

 

[Altfish]

Space.bar.is....
on the fritz
New.keyboard.is.on.order.

Big.problem....spell.check.(on.which.I.depend).not.werking.cuz.of.these.periods.

Good.answer.

 

[ecco]

links?

Sorry, I usually post links. However, to find them again I just Googled the title of the thread.
Funeral Assistance FAQ
The government will reimburse you $9,000 for a COVID funeral
Applications now being accepted for up to $9,000 in assistance for COVID-19 funeral expenses

 

[ecco]

That would be the smart route, but it's clear not to expect it from today's leadership.

Not necessarily "today's leadership". It seems FEMA has been paying for disaster-related funerals since at least the Bush era.

Chief coroner warns of more FEMA waste on funeral overpayments

By SALLY KESTIN AND MEGAN O'MATZ
STAFF WRITERS |
AUG 12, 2005 AT 3:00 AM
Despite assurances from federal officials that they will change the way they award disaster funeral assistance, taxpayer money will likely still be wasted, Florida's chief medical examiner predicted Thursday.

After last year's hurricanes, the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid funeral expenses for more than 200 Floridians who died of cancer, AIDS, heart disease and other causes that had nothing to do with the storms, medical examiners found. FEMA announced a new policy last week tightening up some of its procedures but continues to allow family doctors to link deaths to a disaster.
​

A little more research found this...

https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/is7unit_3.pdf

To understand the role of the Federal government in disaster relief, it is worthwhile to briefly review the history of its involvement. During the period from 1803 to 1950, Congress passed 128 separate laws dealing with disaster relief. Because there was no comprehensive legislation covering disaster relief, Congress had to pass a separate law to provide Federal funds for each major disaster that occurred. The system was a cumbersome one.​

Feel free to dig through it at your leisure.


However, I do understand your need to try to blame "today's leadership".

 

[ecco]

So let me get this straight, the American government is finally paying out reparations to make up for its catastrophic handling of the pandemic last year, and you guys are angry about this?

Yes. If you do some digging you will find that the program, like all massive Federal programs, is poorly devised and administered.

If you want to talk about "reparations", the people who really deserve getting financial assistance are the men and women we sent into combat zones who came back with missing limbs and PTSD - or never came back at all.