My Take on the Proposed Covid-19 Bill That is in the Pipeline

Owning a physical therapy practice right now….HELL….owning ANY business right now is absolutely scary.  A lot of them have closed, dismissed staff and/or severely cut operating hours to accommodate for the dry-up of new customers.  It’s a very scary time for every single American right now.

I want to give you my take as a physical therapy practice owner, as a software company owner, and as a United States citizen right now on what I believe this bill that is heading to vote with the House of Representatives today is going to do for our businesses, for our employees, and our community.  Obviously, this is purely my opinion of where we are right now.  And in a few days’ time, we will all have a more clear understanding of the true outcome of the Covid-19 stimulus bill.

Very early on Thursday morning, March 26, 2020, the Covid-19 $2.2 trillion dollar stimulus bill was passed unanimously 96-0 by the United States Senate.  This is great news for the American public.  Today it will go for a vote with the House and then move onto President Trump for final approval.  So ultimately by Monday, we should have a final verdict about the future of our business and employees.

Here’s what I know right now.  “Most” adults that make less than $75,000 per year will be given a $1,200 stimulus and for each child under age 16, there will be an additional $500. Married couples with no children earning $150,000 or less would receive a total of $2,400. And taxpayers filing as head of household would get the full payment if they earned $112,500 or less. Above those income figures, the payment decreases until it stops altogether for single people earning $99,000 or married people who have no children and earn $198,000. According to the Senate Finance Committee, a family with two children would no longer be eligible for any payments if its income surpassed $218,000.  If you’re a college student and your parents claim you as a dependent, then you will not receive anything.  Your income will be determined by your 2019 tax returns.  If that is not available yet, since this hit right during tax season, then the government is looking at your social security statement and what your employer reported paying you in 2019.  So all of this is looking great for my employees at HENO and Hohman Rehab, as well as our entire community of loyal patients and customers.

The good news for Americans that will receive this stimulus is that you don’t need to do anything.  The IRS will deposit the stimulus directly into your bank account; the same way they would if you were getting money back from your tax returns.  They are projecting that once passed, the money will arrive in your accounts within 3 weeks.

So what about small businesses???

Small businesses will also get major relief from this bill.  After all, we are the backbone of American society.  From my understanding, we (small business owners) should apply for a very low-interest small business loan.  You can do this either through the SBA or your private bank.  I have already done this for both HENO and Hohman Rehab last weekend in preparation, but this isn’t something you necessarily need to do right this second.  I can tell you firsthand that the SBA website is very slow and overloaded right now.  And when I called to check on our applications yesterday, I was caller number 587 in the cue!!  But with that being said, I would gather everything that you need and have it ready for when you do file.  This includes 2018 or 2019 tax returns, other assets such as properties, retirement accounts, and investments; also all of your losses and liabilities.  In a nutshell, get all of your shit together NOW.

A lot of small business owners think that this is just a low-interest loan.  But there’s a lot more of an advantageous benefit to it than they might think.  The Covid-19 stimulus bill is going to allow us to use this loan money to pay our staff, our rent and our utilities from this loan without having to pay back that portion of the loan; so essentially it turns into a grant towards those items.  Now, it does not cover hiring new staff (employees had to have been working for you prior to February 15th) or buying new products and supplies.

This is HUGE you guys!!  It’s essential that we all stay in business, or return to business, and this stimulus is going make that happen and allow us to keep our employees.  Which to me, my employees are the only thing that sets my practice apart from the rest!