Question: I read sometime back that the body of a homeless man was found by police. The man supposedly had no known relatives. Who would take care of such a person, burial-wise? Is it a government matter? Consequently, do the citizens of the state bear the costs?

Answer: The state Department of Human Services and counties work together to provide a “;decent burial”; for an indigent person.

So, essentially, it's paid by taxpayers, up to $800 per person.

Section 841-10 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes says, “;When any coroner or deputy coroner takes an inquest upon the dead body of a stranger or indigent person or, being called for that purpose, does not think it necessary, on view of the body, that any inquest should be taken, the coroner or deputy coroner shall cause the body to be decently buried or cremated.”; (Coroners are county employees.)

The state Department of Health then must issue a “;burial-transit permit”; authorizing a burial or cremation.

The Department of Human Services is basically “;the payment mechanism”; and never has custody of the bodies, said spokeswoman Toni Schwartz: A body “;goes from the coroner to the funeral home or from the hospital to the funeral home.”;

In addition to providing funds to bury or cremate “;an unclaimed body,”; the department's MedQuest Division also will pay for the burial or cremation of someone whose family cannot afford it or if, under Medicaid, they qualify for a supplementary benefit called the “;Funeral Payment Program,”; which will pay up to a certain amount of money, Schwartz said.

Under the latter program, the family would have to pay for any additional cost above what the state would provide.

The MedQuest Division will provide up to $800 for mortuary and burial/cremation services, Schwartz said. That would be a maximum of $400 for mortuary costs and $400 for burial/cremation costs.

If, for example, a family opts for a $1,500 service, “;then the family pays the rest,”; Schwartz said.

If an unclaimed body is involved, she said the contracted mortuaries know what the maximum allotment is.

There are no funeral services held for unclaimed bodies, most of which are cremated, Schwartz said. Mortuaries may bury a body if there is space available at their cemetery, she said.

There are very few unclaimed bodies in Hawaii, averaging about one or two a year: two in 2007 and one in 2008. No figures were readily available for 2009.

By comparison, about 1,200 applications for the Medicaid Funeral Payment Program are approved every year, Schwartz said.

In researching this column, we found an interesting story about the costs of burying the indigent more than five decades ago in a publication of the University of Hawaii's Center for Labor Education & Research.

The story, “;Two-in-One Burials Spotlight Rise in Undertaker's Bids 1957”; (see hsblinks.com/2aj), quoted an undertaker as saying he had to bury two indigent people in one grave because of mounting expenses.

He said a plot and grave-digging cost him $300. That was $200 more than what undertakers who bid on Honolulu's indigent burial contract previously said it cost them: generally $75 for a plot and $25 for digging.

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