Pandemic’s death benefit payments come to an end. . .average award about $6,275
President Donald Trump declared a nationwide pandemic public health emergency on January 31, 2020. That public health emergency has now expired as of midnight on May 11, 2023. . . . a period of over three years in length.
I certainly don’t have to remind anyone who lived through it of the emergency. There were different programs implemented to help Americans through a period of which we knew little of what was coming next. One of those programs passed through Congress was the Pandemic Funeral Assistance program implemented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The funeral assistance program was set-up to help eligible families with funeral expenses for those that died of Covid-19. It would pay those families up to $9,000 of funeral, cremation, or burial expenses. According to this press release from FEMA, as of May 1, 2023, the program has paid out over $3.0 billion to the families of 478,071 eligible decedents. A complete breakdown state-by-state on the number of awards and total monetary value for each state follows the conclusion of this article.
Using that $3.0 billion figure and the number of 478,071 gives one an idea that the average award per decedent was about $6,275. I also calculated a few states — such as Nevada where I thought cremation would be the greatest disposition method and Mississippi where I conclude cremation would be one of the least, percentage-wise, chosen options. Here’s the average death care award from this program in those states:
Nevada: $ 5,251 per award
Mississippi: $ 6,761 per award
The highest number of awarded claims belongs to the State of Texas which had 41,445 awarded claims with an average payment of $ 6,465 per claim. The lowest number of awarded claims belonged to the State of Vermont which had 303 awarded claims with an average payment of $ 5,471 per claim.
The following is a list of applications, awards, and monetary dollars state-by-state:
| State / Territory | Applications | Amount Approved | Number of Awards |
| Alabama | 12,876 | $70,384,951.54 | 10,396 |
| Alaska | 535 | $1,959,402.19 | 406 |
| American Samoa | 33 | $85,658.81 | 15 |
| Arizona | 10,213 | $40,233,581.62 | 8,156 |
| Arkansas | 6,069 | $30,803,942.41 | 4,953 |
| California | 47,662 | $240,264,137.67 | 37,793 |
| Colorado | 5,605 | $24,526,309.71 | 4,544 |
| Connecticut | 5,717 | $32,224,729.39 | 4,712 |
| Delaware | 1,824 | $9,415,783.90 | 1,475 |
| District Of Columbia | 859 | $4,299,715.43 | 644 |
| Florida | 37,762 | $170,551,949.64 | 30,623 |
| Georgia | 23,152 | $127,829,288.43 | 18,680 |
| Guam | 34 | $159,007.19 | 22 |
| Hawaii | 862 | $3,857,329.34 | 663 |
| Idaho | 2,119 | $9,670,682.64 | 1,762 |
| Illinois | 22,833 | $127,814,719.60 | 18,598 |
| Indiana | 12,019 | $67,846,997.85 | 9,850 |
| Iowa | 4,972 | $29,388,960.97 | 4,140 |
| Kansas | 5,270 | $28,561,243.20 | 4,400 |
| Kentucky | 11,124 | $65,241,933.71 | 9,071 |
| Louisiana | 9,561 | $51,848,098.17 | 7,540 |
| Maine | 1,374 | $5,767,751.07 | 1,071 |
| Marshall Islands | Less than 10 | $7,148.71 | Less than 10 |
| Maryland | 10,021 | $54,619,081.20 | 8,138 |
| Massachusetts | 10,870 | $60,612,005.72 | 8,890 |
| Michigan | 21,023 | $106,281,798.33 | 17,250 |
| Minnesota | 6,407 | $36,033,071.48 | 5,313 |
| Mississippi | 8,590 | $46,086,194.31 | 6,816 |
| Missouri | 11,796 | $61,411,517.92 | 9,877 |
| Montana | 1,475 | $6,200,244.53 | 1,226 |
| Nebraska | 2,637 | $15,120,614.03 | 2,195 |
| Nevada | 5,009 | $20,855,075.69 | 3,971 |
| New Hampshire | 1,585 | $7,633,208.96 | 1,279 |
| New Jersey | 18,697 | $105,458,097.36 | 15,250 |
| New Mexico | 3,774 | $15,504,589.43 | 2,938 |
| New York | 40,726 | $224,919,296.62 | 32,745 |
| North Carolina | 19,512 | $103,678,420.02 | 15,953 |
| North Dakota | 1,308 | $8,219,160.64 | 1,107 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 37 | $101,411.99 | 20 |
| Ohio | 25,290 | $136,372,172.83 | 21,060 |
| Oklahoma | 9,167 | $46,710,273.01 | 7,491 |
| Oregon | 2,991 | $10,426,236.78 | 2,362 |
| Pennsylvania | 27,777 | $152,782,932.31 | 23,100 |
| Puerto Rico | 3,149 | $9,440,875.51 | 2,376 |
| Rhode Island | 1,851 | $10,567,729.03 | 1,548 |
| South Carolina | 12,950 | $70,967,292.11 | 10,567 |
| South Dakota | 1,315 | $7,733,532.08 | 1,087 |
| Tennessee | 16,469 | $91,558,378.80 | 13,643 |
| Texas | 51,100 | $267,965,827.94 | 41,445 |
| US Virgin Islands | 90 | $450,351.82 | 70 |
| Utah | 2,669 | $14,833,139.55 | 2,194 |
| Vermont | 379 | $1,658,358.89 | 303 |
| Virginia | 13,768 | $74,193,460.39 | 11,245 |
| Washington | 5,188 | $21,459,264.58 | 4,073 |
| West Virginia | 4,763 | $26,183,915.08 | 3,849 |
| Wisconsin | 9,553 | $52,607,644.75 | 7,970 |
| Wyoming | 914 | $4,149,830.67 | 763 |
Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!!!!
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