There are no signs yet of another stimulus check. The delta variant, however, still has a significant presence in the U.S. Even though the cases are on the decline, there is still some uncertainty over whether the cases could increase again. Amid all this, what could be disturbing to many is that no one is talking about more stimulus checks. Moreover, various other coronavirus stimulus checks like programs have either expired or will expire soon.
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Congress approved the third stimulus check in March this year. Since then, there hasn’t been any serious talks of approving another round of stimulus checks. What is even more concerning for some people is that many other federal benefits have either expired or are set to expire soon.
For instance, the federal unemployment benefits finally ended on Sept. 6. There were many states that ended or reduced the federal pandemic benefits long before the Sept. 6 cut-off date. The American Rescue Plan came up with $300-per-week unemployment benefits.
Along with unemployment benefits, two more programs ended on that same day. These were the emergency extension program that allowed an additional 13 weeks of benefits to jobless Americans and the program that approved unemployment checks to gig workers and independent contractors during the pandemic.
Another federal benefit that expired recently is the health insurance payment for laid-off workers. The federal government paid 100% of health insurance premiums of laid-off workers via the COBRA law. However, this program ended on Sept. 30, and thus, affected people will have to find new health insurance.
One federal program that also recently expired is eviction protection. The program was scheduled to run through Oct. 3, but a Supreme Court decision ended the benefit much earlier. Although many local governments still have eviction protection in place, those bans are expected to end soon as well.
These Benefits Are Still Available
Many federal benefits are still available to Americans, but they may end soon. For instance, the final payment of the expanded child tax credit (CTC) is due to end on Dec. 15. This program gives households with kids a monthly child tax credit depending on the age of the child. Efforts, however, are being made to make this program permanent.
Another federal benefit still available is rent assistance. The last two stimulus packages set aside about $47 billion for rent relief. Much of this amount is still unspent. You can apply for this assistance through the state and local housing agencies.
The federal government has also set aside $700 million in aid for some groups of workers in the food industry. The workers eligible for this aid are those who work on farms and in meat-packing plants.
Federal stimulus checks may have ended but many states, including California, are still giving coronavirus stimulus checks to their people. Also, some states are using the federal funds allotted to them to pay bonuses to teachers.
