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Extra $600 coronavirus aid ending soon

Help may still be available if needed

The state Department of Labor & Industry has distributed $10 billion in federal funds to Pennsylvanians entitled to unemployment compensation since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, at $600 a week under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program.

But those supplementary payments will end July 25.

To help families that have come to depend on that money and haven’t found compensation from work equal to what they had before the crisis, the state Department of Human Services on Wednesday highlighted its assistance programs, including a pair created specifically to help during the pandemic, as a way to keep things together, in a joint virtual press conference with L&I.

“Unless there’s further (Congressional) action to extend the federal program, people in Pennsylvania may soon find themselves in increasingly uncertain circumstances,” said Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller.

It’s her hope the federal government comes to “realize the role they play as a stabilizing force,” she said.

“Anything the federal government can do would be welcomed by our department,” said Labor Secretary Jerry Oleksiak. “These are unprecedented times.”

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania will do what it can, Miller said.

The regular programs administered by DHS include Medicaid, for health insurance; the Children’s Health Insurance Program; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Miller said.

“Health care, food and utilities,” she said. “Things we all need.”

The COVID-specific, short-term programs are the Emergency Assistance Program (EAP) and the LIHEAP Recovery Crisis Program, Miller said.

The EAP provides a one-time cash payment to cover basic needs for families with a child or a pregnant woman that has experienced a reduction of income of at least 50 percent for at least two weeks due to wages lost because of the pandemic, Miller said.

Families must meet income limits of 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines and have no more than $1,000 in a savings or checking account, according to the DHS website.

A family of three would be entitled to $806, Miller said.

The LIHEAP Recovery Crisis Program increased LIHEAP’s “crisis maximum benefit” from $600 to $800, while also allowing some families who may not get the full amount a supplementary $100, according to the DHS website.

“The public assistance network exists to help people in times exactly like this,” Miller said.

Applicants can go to https://www.compass.state.pa.us/ to apply for the programs.

“You don’t need to know your eligibility (status),” Miller said. “We handle that. You don’t have to weather this alone.”

Some employers have complained that some workers have resisted returning to work because of the extra $600, but workers are obligated to go back if work is available — unless they can make a case that COVID-19 would be a danger to them, Oleksiak said.

The case can be made if the worker or someone in the household is immunocompromised, if there are COVID-related child care responsibilities or if the employer hasn’t made the workplace safe, according to Oleksiak.

Both sides can appeal a ruling from L&I on such cases, according to Oleksiak.

Benefits continue to be paid through the appeals process, Oleksiak said.

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