Updated: March 31, 2020

So glad my page has helped my family and friends! Feedback is great! I hope this will help all individuals that are uncertain about things. When you do these applications GO to the government site. Do not go through your email. There are a lot of scammers out there looking for an opportunity to strike the helpless. Good Luck on your applications everyone!!!

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After days of doing research on this topic, here are my findings.

There are a lot of resources you can look for. With the current situation of most people during this time of uncertainty, what do you do if this is your first time furloughed or laid off? Like in many people’s minds, we go into panic mode. Not only our health is involved but our financial stability. For the most part, the majority of America lives paycheck to paycheck. Don’t panic! Take a deep breath and do your research. 

First off check your State’s Department of Labor site, it is crazy for you to even try to call in to get an answer from a caseworker. Here is a link below to look into what your eligibility from your state on unemployment benefit.

https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/UnemploymentBenefits/find-unemployment-benefits.aspx

On top of your state unemployment benefit, you may also benefit from the federal stimulus pack that was just passed solely for this COVID19 crisis. The packet states you will receive $600/week above your weekly benefits from your state. I think this will kick in a couple of weeks.

Under the GOP bill, American adults making less than $75,000 per year would receive a check for $1200 each, plus $500 per child, within three weeks of the bill being passed. The payments are lower for those making more than $75,000, and they disappear entirely for those making more than $99,000 per year. If the economic crisis still persists six weeks after the first checks are sent, the government will cut another check for the same amount. According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the whole effort will cost $500 billion.  I linked below more info on the stimulus pack. More info: https://www.forbes.com/sites/leonlabrecque/2020/03/29/the-cares-act-has-passed-here-are-the-highlights/#61b2518168cd

Get in contact with your landlord, small business owner or non-business owner, if you are leasing there is some relief for the coming months to defer your rent. If your landlord is reasonable, he may defer the rent and have you pay for the missed month over the spread of several months. It does not hurt to try. Or you can apply for an SBA loan through the federal site. There are several packages releasing in the coming weeks. 

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, EIDL. The government has set aside 10 billion in grants for small business owners to apply for loans at 3.75% APR. To my understanding, the first 10K is a grant that you do not have to pay back can go towards your business mortgage, rent, utilities, and payroll. Lets say if you borrow 100K for your small business, that 10K will be deducted from the overall loan you borrowed. So 90K will be charged interest. Now there is another loan called the CARES Act for small business that is going through guidelines and regulation assessment. This is another loan with more benefits, this loan if used solely from the month of May 1st, 2020 to June 30, 2020, on Payroll, rent, mortgage, utilities, and insurance premiums.  If you use it solely for those purposes you can have this part of the loan forgiven under the CARES Act. But you have to transfer the EIDL to the Cares Act. Please check with your CPA and attorney if you are working with them on this.

New added feature on the SBA website, they added an online application for the EIDL to streamline the loan process, which is great! Because I had to fill out the documents then upload it to their site. The link for application is on the top of their page.

https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources

*********UPDATE ON THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PLAN – 3/30/2020******

Eligibility

Businesses – including eligible non-profits, Veterans organizations, Tribal concerns, sole proprietorships, self-employed individuals, and independent contractors described in the Small Business Act – with 500 or fewer employees may apply.

Businesses in certain industries may have more than 500 employees if they meet the SBA’s size standards for those industries.

More info:

Program Overview

The Paycheck Protection Program is designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll by providing each small business a loan up to $10 million for payroll and certain other expenses. 

If all employees are kept on payroll for eight weeks, SBA will forgive the portion of the loans used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. Up to 100 percent of the loan is forgivable.

https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/paycheck-protection-program#section-header-0

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Got this list of to do’s from a colleague which I think is very resourceful. 

Applies to a lot of small business owners.

EMERGENCY CRISES IN DENTISTRY

Good morning folks! It’s been two weeks since the announcement of the COVID-19 national emergency.  While anxiety and stress are high, It’s important to take care of yourself and your practice.  As a practice owner, here are some of the pearls on the to-do list to preserve your practice at this moment (you might have already done some or all of it):

1.       Call all creditors, loaners, and vendors: including personal credit cards, business credit cards, your practice loan or any loan.  Minimize monthly payments to credit card companies and defer payments to loaners. Ask credit card companies to waive interest (if you just paid, you might be able to get interested credited back) and defer loan payments for 90 days. You might have a balloon payment at the end of the maturation date with no interest and no prepayment penalty. Some credit card companies will ask you to call back each month so that they can lift your interest and potentially any late fee.

2.       Call your landlord for deferred payment. It’s paying it now or later however it can be helpful to reserve cash flow for now. (may be able to get up to 90 days)

3.       Call your malpractice insurance to get a reduced premium.   My carrier OMSNIC offers 50% off premium for part-time (some patient contact) and 85% off for suspension (no patient contact) until June, at this moment.

4.       Call your other insurance carriers too, to see if you can defer payment. These can be general liability insurance, workers comp, overhead insurance.  These are typically smaller costs and you may be able to get deferred payment until later this year.  This is also a good time to review your policy and see if you have proper coverage.

5.       Calculate monthly cost that’s required to carry you through 3-6 months, with or without relief. Talk to your accountant and/or financial advisor.

6.       Apply for Line of Credit, or Small Business Loan if needed. SBA.gov is crashing a lot due to the high volume.  Know that Economic Injury Business Loan is different (not forgiven) from the Paycheck Protection Loan Program (forgiven for certain categories of operating cost). You can apply for both and you have the ability to transfer your applications. Line of credit has a variable interest based on the market, so now the interest rate is low at around 4%.

7.       Decide furlough or layoff: talk to your employment law attorney. Check out the State Department of Labor website. There may be different Stated and Federal regulations in terms of paid sick leave. Difficult decisions for difficult times. Prepare for uncomfortable but necessary conversations with employees. As legislation is rapidly evolving, make sure your decisions will preserve cash flow in the next months to come.

8.       Once you decide on furlough or layoff, if you offer health insurance benefits, call the health insurance carrier as well. Find out if your policy has COBRA.

9.       Many people are considering teledentistry and telemedicine.  Make sure it’s HIPAA compliant (regardless of the relaxed rules with HIPAA right now, HIPAA still applies) and check with your malpractice carrier to see if this is covered.

10.   Take advantage of the free CE webinars right now and catch up on CEs.

11.   Continue to follow up with insurance companies for account receivables. It will be very slow now, but you can still get some payments in.

12.   Designate a time slot to be on social media, at different times of the day.  This is to make sure you are up-to-date with the world.  However, make sure you have off-time.  Too much exposure to media can cause more anxiety and distract you from important tasks.

13.   Make sure your IT network is protected. Check cybersecurity as this is a vulnerable time for practices to be subjected to a ransomware attack. Have a cybersecurity company that is reputable to scan your network. Your IT company does not protect you from cybercrime.

14.   Don’t forget to cancel monthly subscriptions: For example, water delivery.

15.   Self-care and preserve yourself: depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts can happen during a crisis. Find an entrusted individual, or groups, that you can share your thoughts. Don’t be alone in panic. Find your creative outlet and do something to make you feel calm and happy: crafts, music, cooking, projects, etc. Spend time with family.

There are many other things you could do to preserve your practice. Feel free to share tips here as we all have different practice models. 

*Deferred payments are not forgiven, so be prepared to have caught up payments to do if everything is stacked up to be paid at the same time.

I hope this helps you individually and for small business owners.