For my blog this week I will be reviewing the CARES Act of 2020. Last week my blog focused on individual state responses because they have been leading the way in acting. However, the federal government just took a large step in the coronavirus aid by passing the CARES Act. This bill covers topics from small businesses to public health, I will review the whole bill, but put emphasis on the health care part of it.
Beginning with what the CARES Act is: CARES stands for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Proposed on March 19, 2020 the bill was signed and passed on March 27, 2020. It is a $2 trillion response bill that is intended to help the American economy. Looking around, stores are closed, streets are empty, people are in their homes and some are relaxing but others are stressing. Unemployment has cause people to question whether they will be able to afford to live in their homes and pay their bills. One part of the CARES Act is the individual response. This means individuals earning less than $75,000 could receive a cash payment of $1,200. Expanding the cash payments more, families could receive $500/child. The government is basing this need off of the 2018-2019 tax filings, for people on Social Security who don’t file taxes the program will provide your information. Extra cash payments could be sent out to those who are unemployed and freelance workers. For those who are unemployed they could see $600/week for four months. Before moving on to the next section, the bill also covers student loans allowing employers to help provide tax-free student loan repayment benefits. Lastly, insurance, this bill requires all private insurance plans cover COVID-19 treatments, vaccines, and makes all coronavirus test free.
Moving on to businesses. The bill covers small businesses and big businesses. For small businesses three main things: emergency grants, forgivable loans, and relief for existing loans. For big businesses there is more covered: airlines, stock buyback ban, oversight, etc. With no one traveling or allowed to travel businesses everywhere are suffering. Some large businesses, like grocery stories, who are allowed to stay open are doing fine. All businesses are eligible for a refundable tax credit to help keep workers on their payroll. The thought is that the businesses will keep their employees hired and provided them with an income.
My blog topics is supposed to be health care policy. However, this bill covered so much that I thought it was important to take time to discuss some different aspects of it. Now I will look at the public heath part of this bill. Starting with hospitals: they will receive $100 billion for those hospitals responding to the coronavirus. A large part of this bill for the health care aspect is just allocating money to different parts of the system. All the rest of the health care coverage focuses on giving money to areas like community health centers, drug access, the CDC, veteran’s health care, telehealth, and medicine and supplies. Half of my family members are nurses and understand the strain the coronavirus has put on funds the hospital receives. Having to re-wear PPE’s doctors and nurses are feeling the stress brought on by the coronavirus. Hopefully some of these funds will help provide new equipment to better protect the medical staff.
There are a couple more sections of this bill that examine food distribution, state/local aid, and education. It’s a very long bill and if you should wish to read it, I’ve linked it to the word CARES above. Most of my information came from NPR’s website, where it breaks down the bill. After trying to read through the health care part of the bill, I decided to seek some help for the rest. I hope you understand the CARES Act better, see you next week.
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