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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2565 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO DEATH BENEFITS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 346-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§346-15 [Burial of] Death benefits for deceased medical or
financial assistance recipients [or]
and disposition of unclaimed corpses. (a) Where the decedent
was a medical or financial assistance recipient at the time of death and is
ineligible for the Social Security Lump-Sum Death Benefit, [The] the
department of human services may [bear the
cost of the burial of deceased medical or financial assistance recipients or
unclaimed corpses. Burial services include the customary mortuary, crematory,
cemetery, and other services essential in providing a dignified burial.] issue a lump-sum death benefit in an amount equal
to the Social Security Administration's Lump-Sum Death
Benefit for that year.
(b) [The
department may pay for mortuary and crematory services to be furnished by any
licensed provider of mortuary and crematory services. Mortuary and
crematory payments shall be made to the extent of cost, or in the sum of $400,
whichever is less.] The
department may authorize and bear the cost of the mortuary and crematory
services for unclaimed corpses furnished by any licensed provider of mortuary
or crematory services. Payments for mortuary and crematory services shall be
made to the extent of cost, or in the sum
of $800 in total, whichever is less, for each unclaimed corpse.
[(c) The department may pay for cemetery services,
to be furnished by any licensed provider of cemetery services. Cemetery
payments shall be made to the extent of cost, or in the sum of $400, whichever
is less.
(d) In cases where the decedent is survived by
relatives, the relatives shall be permitted to make their own arrangements
for the burial or cremation of their deceased
relative.]
[(e) The
person submitting an application for funeral payments under the department's
funeral payment program,] (c) Any person submitting an
application for the lump-sum death benefit described in subsection (a) on behalf of a deceased medical or financial
assistance recipient, shall have sixty days from the date of the death
of the deceased to submit the application [for
funeral payments] to the department. [This subsection shall not apply to applications submitted by the
respective county medical examiner or coroner on behalf of unclaimed corpses.
(f)
All unclaimed corpses shall be cremated.
The department of human services shall authorize the cremation of unclaimed
corpses.]
[(g)] (d) A person or public or private
agency, including the department of human services, shall not be liable for any
damage or subject to criminal prosecution for any act done pursuant to and in
compliance with this section.
[(h)] (e) For [the] purposes of this section, "unclaimed
corpse" means the remains of any deceased person for whom no one has
assumed responsibility for disposition of the body within five working days,
excluding weekends, from the date of death and about whom the department and
the respective county medical examiner or coroner have no actual knowledge of a
legally responsible party.
[(i)] (f) The department shall adopt rules
pursuant to chapter 91 for purposes of administering and implementing this
section."
SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |
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BY REQUEST |
Report Title:
Death Benefits
Description:
To provide a State lump-sum death benefit in an amount equal to the Social Security Administration’s Lump-Sum Death Benefit for deceased medical or financial assistance recipients who are ineligible for the Social Security Administration benefit.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.