Doctor Is In by Dr. Adil Manzoor OP/ED
After what seemed like years of dragging the stimulus check release, they finally hit some time back. Sorry, they finally hit! Hooray! The very fact that a check that will go a long way in helping people and businesses recover and get back on their feet has dragged this long honestly baffles me.
Seriously, we are literally in the middle of a one-year (and very much counting) war against a virus that has killed close to 550,000 people, and there are long, drawn-out discussions and arguments over giving citizens stimulus checks. Don’t you just love the United States of America?
However, I am not here to rant about the state of our government or congress, but rather examine how the checks will go into getting people in prime position to bounce back. Speaking of which, despite the havoc the virus has wreaked, we cannot afford to give up now. We have to bounce back. And by we, I mean individuals, businesses, schools, hospitals, everything. It won’t be easy, but we must not let this virus win. The fight is far from over.
Back to the stimulus checks. 50.5% of the Biden stimulus check is directed towards aiding individuals, which is quite higher than the 38.9% of the previous two checks. This makes sense when one considers that individuals are the core of the country. There’s no point in spending so much on various governmental agencies and sectors of the economy if individuals are neglected.
In total, 54% of the bill goes toward households. The individual checks are $1,400, which many experts have estimated will have the greatest effect on the middle and lower class of the economy. $510 billion of the Biden stimulus bill will go towards state and local governments.
The role of state and local governments in getting the country back on its feet cannot be overestimated, which makes it all the more shocking that just a little over half of this amount, $275 billion, was dedicated to state and local governments in the other two stimulus checks. The local governments, in particular, are closest to the people and are usually in a better position to effect changes in the country.
$100 billion is going to healthcare in the Biden stimulus bill. If you think stimulus checks to individuals are non-negotiable, I have news for you. America’s healthcare system is nothing to write home about, but don’t get me started on that. We have passed the stage of creating a vaccine, thankfully. We have passed the planning stages of distributing the vaccine. But now we have to distribute the vaccine. And to do so effectively, we need money, lots of money, particularly for the rural regions.
Many of these regions and underserved populations are still unvaccinated. And that’s not going to cut it in the fight against the coronavirus. With the right facilities and equipment, more vaccination centers can be constructed in these regions.
One difference between this Biden stimulus bill and the previous two bills is the focus on businesses. The previous two bills dedicated a total of $915 billion to supporting businesses, while the Biden bill is giving only $65 billion for this cause.
There have been many complaints and arguments on the bill, mostly political. I don’t want to get into any of that, but one thing is clear, we need to fight this virus with all we have, including our finance. Stay safe.
This article was written by Dr. Adil Manzoor DO, a Board Certified Internist & Board Eligible Pediatrician, who works as a Hospitalist, and Emergency Room Physician. He is also the current President of Garden State Street Medicine, a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to provide free preventive and acute urgent care services for the homeless. He is also the co-founder of his own unique medical practice Mobile Medicine NJ.
References
· https://www.washington post.com/business/2021/03/ 10/how-big-is-biden-stimulus/
