COVID-19 Federal Relief
COVID-19 Federal Relief
What It Means For Massage Therapists
Thank you to the nearly 70,000 massage therapists, along with our families, friends, clients and patients who joined AMTA’s outreach last week to urge Congress to provide relief for our industry and the millions of other small businesses and self-employed Americans that are being devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our collective voices have helped educate Congress about the impact of COVID-19 on massage therapists, massage establishments, and massage schools and was part of the impetus for Congress to take additional action and address this crisis.
AMTA will continue communicating with our nation’s leaders and federal agencies regarding the CARES: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, and we will update you as we learn more on our COVID-19 page. We want to assure you that we will provide specific details on how to access these benefits as more information becomes available.
Here are the highlights as they relate to the majority of the massage therapy industry (as we know them so far).
Unemployment Assistance
The relief package expands the size and scope of unemployment benefits, including relief for workers who are self-employed, as well as independent contractors. Learn more here.
Small Business Programs
The package also has a number of provisions for small businesses including:
- The “Paycheck Protection Program” to incentivize small businesses to keep employees on payroll
- Protection for small business contractors
- Debt relief for small businesses
Emergency Relief for Distressed Businesses
In addition, the package includes $500 billion in emergency relief to distressed businesses, as well as states and municipalities, flexibility for local businesses to team up with local banks, and commonsense safeguards against misuse. Learn more here.
Financial and Tax Relief
The package also provides financial relief for workers, families and small businesses, including:
- Checks for individuals and families
- Relaxing rules on retirement accounts
- Delaying tax payments for employers
- Support for businesses suffering losses
- Encouraging businesses to invest in improvements
Healthcare Assistance
In addition to increasing access to care for COVID-19 treatment, the bill removes limitations employers and individuals are facing on their HSA-eligible plans. Learn more here.
We encourage you to continue to check our Financial Resoures COVID-19 page for updates on how the massage community can tap into these resources, as well as those provided by individual states.
We truly value the amazing work you do as massage therapists, and we are working tirelessly to advocate for your needs during this tough time. We will get through this together.