LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to evaluate whether it can implement a federal program designed to reimburse COVID-19-related burial costs.
Supervisor Hilda Solis asked county CEO Fesia Davenport to see whether the requirements set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be met.
“To date, there have been over 17,000 families grieving the loss of family members who died of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. Their profound grief is often compounded by the fact they cannot afford the significant costs of their loved one’s burial,” Solis said.
Families have had to organize car wash fundraisers, food sales and GoFundMe campaigns to raise the money to lay loved ones to rest, she said.
“From East Los Angeles to communities in the San Gabriel Valley, I have heard from so many of my constituents, as well as staff at funeral homes, of this real and devastating toll on families,” Solis said.
The coronavirus relief package enacted in December sets aside $2 billion for financial help for COVID-19-related funeral expenses incurred from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2020, without a state match or cost sharing, according to Solis.
FEMA is still reviewing the legislation and working out implementation, but Solis said time is of the essence and the county has a responsibility to help provide for proper burials. Solis did not provide any additional details, but Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both of New York, held a news conference Monday to announce that low-income families in that state would be entitled to up to $7,000 in reimbursements.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell suggested that the county start educating residents about the potential need for documentation even before plans for any program are finalized. That way, families can begin the time-consuming process of seeking a death certificate and know to hold on to records of their expenses.
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Screw the Democrats says
faucis Bill Gates Nancy pelosi
And shifty s*** should pay for all funeral expenses for everyone they knew about the virus they worked on the virus and all they were worried about was an impeachment they should flip the bill on all funerals
Stinger says
Ummm… What?
You sound about as cogent as your former Inciter-in-Chief’s current impeachment attorneys.
Ezra S says
What a joke!
More handouts by the Dems who proclaimed that the previous administration didnt care about COVID, and they pork barrel 2B dollars to pass out to “low income ” folks to “assist” in funeral costs.
You may not like it, but you live within your means.
Stinger says
Priced a funeral lately? Some of us may have credit cards with sufficient capacity to foot the rather significant expense for an unexpected death of a loved one from COVID, but not everyone does.
That said, however, I do support limitations on what qualifies. The mortuarial and dispositive costs for the body, certainly, but I would not tend to support assisting in anything that would tend to be a possible spreading event, such as a memorial service.
Really says
Ezra: O.K.
Stinger says
I do not know why the site editors here decided to capriciously delete my earlier post on this as it contained no offensive or derisive commentary, so I will try again:
Have you priced funerial expenses lately? They ain’t cheap – even the so called cheap ones. Not everyone has an extra grand or three just sitting around to deal with burying an unexpected dead loved one. Nor does everyone have the available credit on their cards to handle this (presuming they even have any credit cards). As we are in a pandemic, these expenses are more likely to hit in large numbers with less options available to help spread the cost out within a family. Indeed, with the high level of unemployment from the same pandemic, the cost becomes an even higher burden for all too many.
That said, though… Although I would have no problem in the reimbursement of actual mortuarial expenses, I would not be so inclined with anything related to memorial services, due to these being potential spreader events.