Illinois suspends funerals for poor

WBBM-AM:

For the poor, it's a final indignity, funeral directors say: The state of Illinois is suspending payments for funerals for the indigent.

That money -- $1,103 that goes to the funeral home, $552 for the cemetery -- can make the difference between a modest service and a burial in a potter's field, said John Baran of Baran Funeral Home at 2644 N. Central Ave.

"I know we're going through budget cuts," Baran said, "but. . . . "

A letter to funeral homes last week from the Department of Human Services announced the cutback, blaming "the General Assembly's failure to approve the revenue plan proposed by Gov. Quinn."

"The program doesn't have funding right now," the agency's Tom Green said Monday.
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He said Illinois pays about $15 million a year for about 10,000 funerals for the poor.

A funeral home makes "maybe 50 bucks" on these burials, Baran said, "by the time you pay the transportation to pick up the body, transportation out to the cemetery, the embalming, plus the casket."

The state will pay for funerals that have taken place, Green said. But payment for funerals held after July 1 will be pushed to the budget year that begins July 1, 2010.

Funeral directors predicted bodies will begin piling up at medical examiner's offices.
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Already, some funeral home owners have gotten so tired of waiting for state reimbursement that they've stopped handling indigent burials, Baran said.

Really tough times!

BTW, Illinois is said in this article to be one of a handful of states to offer assistance to indigent families who have to bury loved ones. It also mentions that Catholic Cemetaries will not turn away anyone.