• American Rescue Plan Further Extends COVID-19 Relief
• Conference Forum Follow-Up
• Wespath Market Update

American Rescue Plan Further Extends COVID-19 Relief

President Biden on March 11, 2021 signed into law the American Rescue Plan (ARP). This latest pandemic-related bill further extends several COVID-19 relief measures that were initially created in March 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and extended in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA)—including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Employee Retention Credit (for employers), and employer tax credits related to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

The ARP is estimated to inject nearly $1.9 trillion into the economy through a variety of relief measures. Some key general provisions of the ARP include:

• $1,400 stimulus checks to many Americans
• A continued $300-per-week boost to unemployment insurance (UI). Individuals receiving jobless benefits will continue receiving an extra $300 weekly through September 6
• A boost to the child tax credit and other tax credits
• Funding for K-12 schools and higher education aimed at helping schools reopen and addressing concerns about learning loss due to pandemic-related remote learning
• Improved access to health care, including an increase to individual marketplace premium tax credits (subsidies) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) and incentives for states to expand Medicaid
• Public health efforts against COVID-19, including new funding for coronavirus testing and contact tracing, vaccines, and increasing the size of the public health workforce.
• Relief for state, local and tribal governments

Wespath has developed this summary of ARP details. Read it here.

Conference Forum Follow-Up

Thank you to all the conference representatives who attended the first week of our Conference Forum (March 4). We value your ongoing partnership in serving UMC participants, and are providing copies of the presentations from the event. The Conference Forum—as other communications with the conference benefit officers, treasurers and staff—has provided context to the information provided below. Please consider this as you make decisions about the appropriateness of sharing these materials with those who were not in attendance.

Presentations and Handouts from March 4 Conference Forum are available here.

We will provide March 11 materials in an upcoming On Board Express. Please plan to attend these upcoming events:

• Conference Forum—week 3 (Thursday, March 18)
• HealthFlex Mini-Summit (Thursday, March 25 for HealthFlex plan sponsors)

More details.

Wespath Market Update

Read our latest Wespath Market Update, a weekly investment summary that succinctly recaps economic and financial market activity for the prior week. If you, or others, wish to receive this email update, please send your contact information (name, email and organization) to InvestmentInfo@wespath.org.

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