Yesterday evening, Congress announced it had reached a stimulus deal, which it had debated for months. The President has said he will sign the deal, as well, meaning no veto override will be needed.
The deal includes $600 direct payments for adults and children, but not adult dependents. And the money is reportedly going to arrive fast. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on CNBC today that checks could start appearing in people’s bank accounts in the coming days by the beginning of next week,” although when this was done previously, it was actually on Wednesday before people began to see the first direct deposits in their bank accounts. This means that a family of four could very well see $2,400 extra in their checking account on Wednesday, December 30th, which doesn’t make it quite a Christmas present — but at least it’ll be there for when their Christmas credit card bill arrives in January.
Other provisions of the bill are said to be enhanced unemployment benefits and billions of dollars for struggling companies, especially small businesses, which are slated to receive more than $300 billion in loans. New money for schools, hospitals, and COVID-19 vaccine distribution are also included in the bill that is still being drafted into its final version set for a formal vote today, which Democratic and Republican representatives are now confident they have the votes to pass.
Also included in the bill is protection for patients from receiving “surprise” medical bills, which happens when, for example, procedures are completed at an “in-network” facility, but the radiologist that reads the x-rays was “out-of-network” and sends a large bill to the patient, hence a “surprise billing.”
As more information is disbursed, we will update this story.
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