Covid Disparities — Part 5 of 6

Policy Successes and Failures

During the COVID-19 pandemic the US government passed three bills that sent direct cash payments to eligible citizens. The first bill was the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, which was a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed [1]. The spending included a one-time cash payment to individuals, $260 billion in increased unemployment benefits, the creation of the Paycheck Protection Program that provided forgivable loans to small businesses with an initial $350 billion in funding, $500 billion in…