Widow says FEMA won’t help pay husband’s funeral bills, even though he died from COVID
If your loved one died from COVID-19, you can still get help paying the funeral bills.
FEMA says that, as of Dec. 1, it’s covered the expenses for more than 32,000 people in the Carolinas. In dollars and cents, that’s $107 million in North Carolina and $73 million in South Carolina.
But a Mount Pleasant widow told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke she ran into problems getting reimbursed.
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Linda Gail Whitley says she was married to her husband, Aubrey, a minister, for more than 57 years. Then last year, Aubrey ended up in the hospital.
“And they told us, about the ninth day, that he was not going to make it,” she said. “And so we had to choose to take the ventilator off.”
His death certificate says he died from COVID-related pneumonia.
“We have a nice little family, but it will never be the same,” Whitley said.
She says the two of them had discussed very specific plans for when he passed and that the bill for those plans came to $8,300.
She found out FEMA reimburses families for the funeral expenses for Covid deaths. So she applied for the money, but she says FEMA turned her down twice. The first time was because of her name; sometimes she goes by Linda, other times, Gail.
The second time was because she paid for the funeral using money from her business, a hair salon, instead of her personal account. It’s not clear why that was a problem.
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“I am the beauty shop. It’s just me,” she said.
She says she provided paperwork hoping to clear up both issues, but that it didn’t work. She plans to keep fighting.
“We’ve paid taxes, and all this stuff, I just feel like we should get it,” she said.
She wants others to know how important it is to dot your Is and cross your Ts to get that FEMA money.
FEMA wouldn’t discuss her case with Action 9 for privacy reasons.
About the program
FEMA says it “will continue to provide funeral assistance until Sept. 30, 2025, to those who have lost loved ones due to this pandemic.”
Questions? Call 844-684-6333 (TTY: 800-462-7585) Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. or click here to learn more.
(WATCH BELOW: What is FEMA)
