The coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has led to many unanswered questions for students and their families.

Chera LaForge

Chera LaForge, Ph.D., associate professor of political science at Indiana University East, was asked to share her thoughts about the political response to the pandemic.

LaForge received her doctorate in political science and her Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science from Northern Michigan University. Her research interests include Congress and legislative behavior. She previously served as the Adjunct Faculty Development Leader.

Many of the concerns being raised involve House Bill 748, which is better known as the CARES Act. It was enacted into law in late March of 2020. Among the 335 pages, something that has created a lot of questions is the portion relating to people receiving money from the government. Who is eligible and when can people expect to receive the cash?
This is certainly the part of the bill that has received the most attention! The CARES Act provides one-time payments for many Americans, but eligibility is based on your filing status and your income. If you are single and make less than $75,000 or file as the head of household and make less than $112,500, you should expect a payment of $1,200. If you are married without children and make less than $150,000, you’ll receive $2,400. Households with children receive another $500 per child (more on that below!). Those amounts are reduced if you make more than the amounts listed above, but less than $99,000 (if single), $136,500 (for head of households), or $198,000 (if married). That can seem a bit complicated, but there are a lot of websites, including The Washington Post, who have developed calculators to figure out how much to expect.

When you’ll receive your money is up in the air. The first people who will receive payments are those with direct deposit information on file with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS anticipates that direct deposits will start on April 9. If you don’t use direct deposit, the IRS will start mailing paper checks on April 24, but it might take months from that date for some people to receive a check. They’ve chosen to prioritize people with the lowest incomes first, with checks for people near the maximum receiving payment as late as mid-September.

There have been some issues with college students who are still listed as dependents by their parents on income tax documents. How does this effect both traditional and non-traditional IU East students?
Unfortunately, some people will be disappointed to learn they don’t qualify for money. As I said above, families with children will receive an extra $500 per child, but only if they are under 17. If your parents still list you as a dependent on their tax returns, you’ll likely miss out on both the $500 and the $1,200 payment. If you aren’t listed as a dependent and file your own taxes, you will be eligible. I also know that some of our non-traditional students have children of their own. If your kids are under 17, you should receive the extra $500.

Several senators have expressed their disappointment that dependents over the age of 17 are missing out on these payments and are working on legislation to address this shortcoming. But, like all things in Congress, there is no guarantee that the bill will pass. As always, if you are someone that will miss out on a payment because of this rule, I always recommend that you contact your member of Congress to express your frustration. While you might not feel like they are listening, representatives and senators do pay careful attention to their voters!

Two other issues covered in the CARES Act that may be of concern to IU East students, faculty and staff are unemployment and healthcare. What information can you offer that helps people dealing with job loss either by parents/guardians or the students as they continue to navigate through the college education process?
First, I am so sorry that some of our students and their parents and guardians may have temporarily or permanently lost their jobs. Stay at home orders made at the local and state level have shuttered many businesses deemed non-essential, but the CARES Act provides for a substantial expansion of unemployment benefits for those workers. The first step is to file for unemployment through the state and the easiest way to do that is online. Systems have been swamped with applicants, so you may need to try multiple times if the system doesn’t seem to be working. The state will determine your unemployment benefit and the federal government will add an additional $600 per week through July to that amount.

The law also expands who can qualify for unemployment, including part-time employees and independent contractors (like Uber or Lyft drivers). People who need to take time off from work to home school children or care for a family member who has contracted COVID-19 may also apply. Right now, many states are scrambling to create new systems to process applications from these groups, if you are having trouble filing, your unemployment benefits should retroactively apply from when you were forced to stop working.

If your income has changed as result of this and you’re concerned about how to pay your tuition, please reach out to the IU East Financial Aid Office. They can help walk through your options to appeal for an increase in your financial aid. Please don’t feel like you have to navigate this all on your own, there are staff waiting to help you out!

On the matter of healthcare, what are the major provisions mentioned in the CARES Act that can help everyone get through the crisis?
Our front-line medical personnel certainly need our help and support and there are provisions that cover hospitals, medical providers, and even individuals. The CARES Act is actually the third in a series of laws dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The first, passed in early March, provided money for vaccines and medical supplies and state and local health agencies. The CARES Act builds on this, with more funding in many of the same areas. One thing it continues to expand is access to telehealth medicine. Locally, we’ve seen Reid Health offer COVID-19 screenings through their telehealth system, and other hospital systems have done the same. You might also see your other medical providers move over to telehealth appointments, especially if they want to keep patients out of offices for their safety.

Hospitals may also see an inflow of federal support to help cover the cost of treating coronavirus patients, but also to help aid in building temporary structures to house or process them. Many hospitals have lost out on the revenues of elective procedures, so this might help them cover costs as they prepare for an influx of new patients.

Individuals could also benefit from improved insurance coverage of coronavirus testing and some care. On a much smaller note, the law also changes what is considered an eligible expense if you have a Health Savings Account or a Flexible Spending Account. According to the law, you can now use those funds to pay for over-the-counter drugs, medical supplies, and menstrual products.

Are there any other parts of the act that students and their families need make sure that they understand?
Some of our students and their families may own their own small businesses. The law expanded or created new programs for small businesses. The one that has received the most attention is the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans for small businesses that keep their employees on the payroll. This is meant to keep people off of unemployment, but the rollout of the program has been rough, to say the least. Congress and the Small Business Administration are working with their commercial banking partners to try to take care of the problems that have popped up and revisions have already been made. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program might also be an option. This program provides grants and low-interest loans for businesses to cover expenses beyond payroll, like rent or utilities.

Looking forward, Congress is also contemplating a fourth bill and what that might include is up for debate. If something passes, we’ll likely see more money for individuals and businesses, as well as the healthcare system and state and local governments. Senate Democrats have proposed direct payments to essential workers, like doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, and truck drivers. If you feel passionately about what that bill might look like, call or write your member of Congress and let them know.

Where is the best place to find information about the CARES Act?
The actual bill is more than 300 pages long, so you probably want to skip that! My advice is to go to the government agency closest to the issue first, they are responsible for the implementation of the law. The IRS has a number of news releases on their website outlining how individuals will receive their money (it is referred to as an economic impact payment on their website). The Small Business Administration has plenty of information on loan resources and small business guidance on their website. The major news networks and newspapers are also all covering the roll out of the CARES Act intently and provide excellent guidance on what you can expect and when. If you aren’t sure if something is legitimate, use the IU East Library Fake News libguide to examine its credibility.