KEY POINTS
  • The Federal Emergency Management Agency loosened rules for a program that reimburses funeral costs of up to $9,000 per death linked to Covid-19.
  • Early in the pandemic, death certificates may not have listed the coronavirus as a cause of death due to limited availability of testing and less knowledge about the virus.
  • FEMA's tweak offers funds to families in some cases without having a death certificate amended.

The Biden administration made it easier for many families to qualify for aid toward funeral costs after loosening rules for a Covid-era program.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the program, changed its funeral-assistance policy related to deaths that occurred in the early months of the pandemic.