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West Virginia Decreases Fund for Indigent Burial Costs

WHEELING — A state fund to reimburse funeral homes for indigent burials in West Virginia ran out of money with four months to go in fiscal year 2018, then the West Virginia Legislature passed laws to stop abuses of the system.

While funeral homes now are receiving less reimbursement for indigent burials from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services, there are more requirements and stricter standards for receiving an indigent burial, explained Rob Kimes, president of the West Virginia Funeral Directors Association.

He said the measures are working.

“By this time last year, the money had run out,” Kimes said. “This year, funds are still there. The changes have made a difference.”

The Legislature allocated $2.2 million for indigent burials for fiscal year 2019, and as of mid-February just $1.5 million had been expended, according to Kimes.

Until recently, some funeral homes in the state still hadn’t been reimbursed for indigent burials they conducted between February and the end of June in 2018.

Lawmakers passed a bill this month authorizing payment to 20 funeral homes in the state.

Local funeral homes receiving reimbursement were the Altmeyer Funeral Home at $5,000, and the Kepner Funeral Home at $1,250.

Funeral homes previously received $1,250 for conducting an indigent burial, which typically involves cremating the body and taking it to a grave site, Kimes said. In specific instances where there are religious considerations, a traditional burial with a casket and vault is arranged at a higher cost to the funeral home.

The new law allocates a lesser $1,000 to a funeral home for an indigent burial.

“But there is better vetting of the immediate family to make sure the deceased didn’t have assets,” Kimes said. “In the past, the vetting didn’t include the deceased’s spouse. Now it includes the spouse, and brothers and sisters and parents where applicable.”

Funeral homes conduct indigent burials largely as a community service, and don’t expect to break even on providing the service, he said.

There were also instances when the family of someone who lives and died in a nearby state would use the name and address of a family member in West Virginia to apply for indigent burial benefits in the Mountain State, according to Kimes.

“We were running into some problems,” he said. “For example, if somebody in Ohio would pass away, somebody would tell them, ‘Use your sister’s address and apply for benefits in West Virginia.”

“We tried to get it (legislation) where it would be for West Virginia funeral homes only because it’s only fair to West Virginia taxpayers that we keep it within the border.”

But some lawmakers balked at funding indigent burials only for those living and dying in West Virginia, according to Kimes. The increased family vetting, however, has stopped much of the out-of-state applications, he said.

The state DHHR reports 917 applications for indigent burial reimbursement have been received by the office so far this year. Of this amount, 687 were paid and 230 were either denied or are currently pending.

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