It is weird to think that five years ago we were locked down, wearing masks, washing our hands at intervals during the day and dealing with the deaths of loved ones. What was often overlooked, especially in minority populations, was the availability of assistance to pay for funeral expenses.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management) introduced the COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Policy, which reimbursed applicants for funeral costs associated with COVID-19 related deaths.  An applicant who paid funeral costs of a COVID-19 decedent still is eligible to receive up to $9,000 in reimbursement assistance per funeral.  To be eligible, the applicant must be a US citizen, non-citizen national, or qualified alien.  There is, however, no requirement that the decedent be a US citizen or national.

To qualify for reimbursement, the funeral costs must be related to a decedent who died after January 20, 2020, and COVID-19 must be listed on the death certificate as having been a cause or contributing factor to the death.  Only one applicant is eligible to receive reimbursement per funeral.  However, applicants can seek to recover expenses they paid for more than one funeral (the entire amount that one applicant can seek as reimbursement is capped at $35,500 per applicant).

The deadline for this program is September of 2025. If you know of someone that has overlooked this program or has let the “ball drop” so to speak, you may want to remind them.