People who die alone, with no family or friends to handle their funerals, are not entirely forgotten. The state of Massachusetts pays funeral homes to bury them, providing the deceased with the dignity of a service that all people deserve. But over time, the cost of burial has gone up and the state’s reimbursement has not.
Thirty-three years ago, the state’s $1,100 payment might have covered burial costs. That’s not true any longer. This imbalance unfairly shifts the burden from a humane society, where it belongs, to private businesses. This month, a funeral home director who serves on the state’s five-member Board of Registration in Embalming and Funeral Directing met with lawmakers to seek help.
The state is overdue in adjusting the reimbursement it provides, in this obviously underfunded mandate. It could also allow funeral homes to provide a less-costly service through cremation. That is a choice more and more families make. We see no reason why the state should not allow funeral homes and boards of health to authorize cremation for those whose remains go unclaimed. Such services can be rendered for an average of $350, about a tenth of the typical cost of embalming and burial.
This is a sad but necessary agenda item for government to address.