Insurers Cigna and New York Life team up on $50 million relief fund for families of healthcare workers killed by the coronavirus

• Cigna and New York Life are launching The Brave of Heart Fund to provide grants for the families of healthcare workers who have died while fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
• The insurers contributed a combined $50 million to the fund.
• New York Life will also match the first $25 million of additional individual donations, while Cigna will support the families with free behavioral and emotional-health counseling.
• The fund will start providing grants to affected families as early as May.
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Health insurer Cigna and life insurer New York Life are the latest companies to help Americans on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

On April 21, the companies announced the launch of a nationwide fund that will provide grants to the families of healthcare workers who die from COVID-19.

Cigna and New York Life each contributed $25 million to a project called The Brave of Heart Fund, with New York Life pledging to match the first $25 million in additional outside donations.

Cigna, along with its own monetary contribution, will support the families of healthcare workers with free emotional-health and grief counseling.

"In these extraordinary times, when our communities are coming together in the face of this pandemic, we want to support those on the front lines fighting against the coronavirus," Cigna President and CEO David M. Cordani told Business Insider in a written statement. "With the Brave of Heart Fund, we are honoring our healthcare heroes who are selflessly putting patients first. We are proud to partner with New York Life to help bring support services and peace of mind to their families, at a time when they need it most."

The fund will be accepting applications for the grant money starting in May. The first grants will be awarded that same month. Families of doctors, nurses, technicians, cafeteria workers, custodians, volunteers, and others are eligible to apply.

Eligible families could receive grants valued at up to $75,000 for medical care and counseling, housing,
food, transportation, and education. You can find more information on the fund, along with the application process, by filling out this form.

The fund will provide needed support for healthcare workers, who have been hit especially hard by the pandemic. Nurses across the country told Business Insider's Allana Akhtar that they are short-staffed, pulling extra shifts, and working in hospitals lacking plans to protect healthcare workers from the disease.

Dozens of healthcare workers on the front lines have already died from COVID-19, and more than 9,000 healthcare workers have contracted the coronavirus.