Do I even need to say it?
Posted on 10/10/2009 2:46:18 PM PDT by reaganaut1
Coroners and medical examiners across the country are reporting spikes in the number of unclaimed bodies and indigent burials, with states, counties and private funeral homes having to foot the bill when families cannot.
The increase comes as governments short on cash are cutting other social service programs, with some municipalities dipping into emergency and reserve funds to help cover the costs of burials or cremations.
Oregon, for example, has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of unclaimed bodies over the past few years, the majority left by families who say they cannot afford services. “There are more people in our cooler for a longer period of time,” said Dr. Karen Gunson, the state’s medical examiner. “It’s not that we’re not finding families, but that the families are having a harder time coming up with funds to cover burial or cremation costs.”
About a dozen states now subsidize the burial or cremation of unclaimed bodies, including Illinois, Massachusetts, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Most of the state programs provide disposition services to people on Medicaid, a cost that has grown along with Medicaid rolls.
Financing in Oregon comes from fees paid to register the deaths with the state. The state legislature in June voted to raise the filing fee for death certificates to $20 from $7, to help offset the increased costs of state cremations, which cost $450.
“I’ve been here for 24 years, and I can’t remember something like this happening before,” Dr. Gunson said.
Already in 2009, Wisconsin has paid for 15 percent more cremations than it did last year, as the number of Medicaid recipients grew by more than 95,000 people since the end of January, said Stephanie Smiley, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Lots of families that cannot afford to bury their dead cannot afford health insurance either. The Democrats would fine them.
In Ohio a death certificate is $16.00. I have not heard much about the above here but sure it is happening.
I think though this also has to do with the break up of the family, general change in values and the “ME” generation, loss of religious affiliations.
Sure, there are people who are in such bad situations, but this is not the Great depression and a 50% rate in Oregon? there is more to this than “hard times.”
Less dead voters available for the dems.
There was a recent analysis that cited examples of people having $200/month and larger cell phone bills, spinner rims for their cars, jet skis, and the like, but not providing other basic things for themselves. Actually I was guilty of the same thing for a brief time in college. Had all kinds of money for fancy audio equipment - but got caught short for rent, tuition, and food. Fortunately was able to recover from it (by working til 2 AM at Burger King) and learned a valuable lesson: pay for the stuff you need FIRST, and wait for the other stuff. Sadly a lot of folks are not learning that lesson soon enough these days.
I wonder what percentage of them are illegal aliens?
How much does a burial and funeral cost...6000 dollars or more...even a cremation is 2500. Now some states can get the cost down to under 500 dollars per “unit” but the general John Q Public cannot get that kind of rate. The private “mortuary” services are going to need to drop their prices!
Summary: Dead women and minorities hardest hit.
Increase their taxes....we dont tax the dead enough
My posts regarding the longevity of human life in endgame socialist societies are intended to do that.
Scorecard:
Socialism: 200 million dead by murder, 100 million dead by disease
Conservatism: still trying to get on the board.
“The private “mortuary” services are going to need to drop their prices!”
Why? We haven’t as yet tried to fix this by bailing out the dead. ;>)
That’s why I told my wife that when I die, hire a couple of illegal aliens to drag my corpse over to the nearby Illinois river and pitch it in.
Fish gotta eat too.
Yeah, and that’s the problem with socialism. I make calls all the time on people who are living in subsidized housing, but can afford hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of tattoos.
Less government, more freedom, more hiring, more pay, more ability to pay for the funeral. If the government wants to take all their money, then it should pay to bury them.
How about those elderly folks we’ve read about who book a cruise and then jump overboard in the middle of the ocean?
No funeral expenses for them.
My kids used to say that to me all the time too. I had to explain that my checkbook was to pay for necessary expenses, and credit cards represented the ability to borrow from someone that would demand more back than I borrowed. I was not rich, but I was better off then that the country is now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.