Unemployment Benefit Calculator (HEALS vs HEROES)

Archived historical, non-current snapshot — dated July 9, 2026 (2026-07-09). The $200 flat and 70% wage-replacement HEALS phases and $600 HEROES comparison described below model unenacted 2020 proposals (S. 4318 and H.R. 6800) and are not current law. Check authoritative sources for the applicable period before relying on this estimate.

The Unemployment Benefit Calculator (HEALS vs HEROES) compares two pandemic-era policy designs from 2020: a HEALS-style unemployment supplement and a HEROES-style continuation of a flat $600 weekly add-on. It is historical and illustrative. It does not represent a current benefit, and it does not decide whether anyone qualified for unemployment insurance. Instead, it recreates the calculator’s own formula exactly: previous annual wages become a weekly wage, state unemployment plus any dependent allowance becomes the state-side benefit, HEALS adds either a flat $200 or a variable supplement targeted to 70 percent wage replacement, and HEROES adds $600 per week for comparison.

The page is deliberately different from a generic unemployment calculator. A normal unemployment calculator might try to estimate state benefits from wages. This one asks you to enter the state weekly benefit directly because the real state formulas vary. The purpose is to isolate the federal proposal math. Once the state amount is supplied, you can see how the HEALS proposal changes weekly and total benefits compared with a HEROES-style $600 supplement over the same number of eligible weeks.

Historical note and status

During 2020, the $600 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation supplement became one of the central relief-policy debates. The HEROES Act approach kept a flat $600 supplement in the comparison used here. The HEALS proposal shifted toward a smaller transitional add-on and a wage-replacement target, aiming at 70 percent of prior wages with a cap in this calculator’s model. Those were legislative proposals and negotiations, not a permanent unemployment system. This calculator is therefore best used for policy analysis, journalism, classroom explanation, or reconstructing how different proposals would have changed weekly income.

For current household planning, use current tools instead of treating this result as an active benefit. The budget calculator can put a weekly benefit estimate into monthly cash flow, the salary calculator can translate annual and weekly earnings, and the savings goal calculator can show how long a reserve would last under a selected weekly shortfall.

Inputs used by this calculator

The calculator does not validate whether a state actually offered dependent allowances or whether the entered weekly benefit was correct. It trusts the supplied state amount and focuses on the comparison.

Formula

The first step is to convert annual wages:

$\text{previous weekly wage} = \frac{\text{annual wages}}{52}$

Then add state benefits and dependent allowances:

$\text{state with dependents} = \text{state weekly benefit} + \left(\text{dependents} \times \text{dependent allowance}\right)$

In the flat HEALS phase, the federal supplement is:

$\text{HEALS supplement} = \$200$

In the 70 percent target phase, the supplement is:

$\text{HEALS supplement} = \min\left(\$500,\max\left(\$0,\left(70\% \times \text{previous weekly wage}\right) - \text{state with dependents}\right)\right)$

The weekly and total HEALS results are:

$\text{HEALS weekly benefit} = \text{state with dependents} + \text{HEALS supplement}$

$\text{HEALS total} = \text{HEALS weekly benefit} \times \text{eligible weeks}$

The HEROES comparison is:

$\text{HEROES weekly benefit} = \text{state with dependents} + \$600$

$\text{HEROES total} = \text{HEROES weekly benefit} \times \text{eligible weeks}$

The calculator also reports the dollar difference as HEROES total minus HEALS total, and the HEALS wage coverage as HEALS weekly benefit divided by previous weekly wage.

Checking the primary result

The default inputs are $52,000 of previous annual wages, a $320 state weekly benefit, zero dependents, a $0 dependent allowance, 16 eligible weeks, and the HEALS 70 percent target phase. Previous weekly wages are $52,000 divided by 52, or $1,000. State with dependents is $320 plus zero dependent allowance, or $320.

The 70 percent wage target is 70 percent of $1,000, or $700. The calculator subtracts the $320 state amount, producing a needed supplement of $380. That is above $0 and below the $500 cap, so the HEALS federal supplement is $380. HEALS weekly benefit is $320 plus $380, or $700. Across 16 weeks, HEALS total is $11,200.

The HEROES comparison uses the same $320 state amount and adds a flat $600, producing a weekly comparison of $920. Over 16 weeks, the HEROES total is $14,720. The difference versus HEROES is $14,720 minus $11,200, or $3,520. HEALS wage coverage is $700 divided by $1,000, which the calculator reports as 70 percent.

If the same inputs use the flat $200 HEALS phase instead, HEALS weekly benefit is $320 plus $200, or $520. Sixteen weeks would total $8,320, and the HEROES comparison would still be $14,720. This illustrates why the phase selector matters: the target phase responds to prior wages, while the flat phase does not.

Interpreting HEALS versus HEROES

Do not blur the two proposals. In this calculator, HEALS is the line that may be flat $200 or may target 70 percent wage replacement with a $500 cap. HEROES is the comparison line that adds $600 each week. The same state benefit, dependent allowance, and week count feed both lines so the federal add-on is the visible difference. The page also lists a CARES weekly comparison equal to state with dependents plus $600, because the $600 amount was familiar from the earlier FPUC period.

The result is a gross benefit comparison. Actual unemployment payments could be affected by state maximums, partial earnings, work-search rules, tax withholding, overpayments, appeals, fraud reviews, and expiration dates. Use official state records for any personal claim. Use this page when you need to explain the proposal math.

Sources

• Congress.gov, S. 4318, HEALS Act bill text — Senate bill text associated with the HEALS proposal.
• Congress.gov, H.R. 6800, HEROES Act bill text — House-passed HEROES Act text for comparison.
• U.S. Department of Labor, UIPL 15-20 — DOL guidance on the $600 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation supplement.