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Stone | Dana Neely | Getty Images After relaxing requirements for a Covid-era program, the Biden administration made it simpler for many families to qualify for funeral assistance. The program’s administrator, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, revised its policy on burial aid for deaths that occurred in the early months of the pandemic. Applicants for funeral aid, which can range from $9,000 to $35,500 per application, had to first provide a death certificate that listed Covid-19 as the cause of death. Personal Finance has more: The ‘fast and loose’ approach some corporations take with executive benefits How well-versed are you in the process of filing for Social Security? Inflation has a negative impact on retirees. However, death certificates may not have mentioned the infection early on. For example, testing was not as common and the coronavirus was not as well understood by the medical community. As a result, many families may have been turned down. According to FEMA, applicants will be reimbursed if they produce a declaration or letter from the death certificate’s certifying official, medical examiner, or coroner attributing the death to Covid-19. The adjustment affects deaths that occurred between January 20 and May 16 of last year. According to FEMA, the new policy allows for the attribution of a death to Covid without having to modify the death certificate. The period before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published death-certificate recommendations in the spring of 2020 is also covered, according to the agency. For deaths after May 16, individuals must still submit a death certificate that links the fatality to Covid-19. Funeral services, cremation, a casket or urn, burial plot, marker or headstone, and transportation for up to two persons to identify the deceased individual, for example, are all covered by program funding. The initiative, which has a total budget of $2 billion, began accepting applications in April. According to FEMA, more than 78,000 people have gotten $525 million in aid since then. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 605,000 people have died as a result of Covid-19. Early on in the program, when there was a huge volume of candidates, scammers targeted it. According to the Federal Trade Commission, criminals pretended to be government representatives and offered to register applicants for aid, but instead tried to steal money or sensitive personal information./nRead More

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