C.R.S. § 26-2-129: Funeral - final disposition expenses - death benefit - legislative intent - definitions - rules.

(1) The general assembly finds and declares that, subject to available appropriations, the purposes of this section are the following:

(a) To provide appropriate and equitable payment of funeral, cremation, burial, or natural reduction expenses or a combination of expenses associated with the final disposition of a deceased public assistance or medical assistance recipient;

(b) To consider the religious and cultural preferences of the decedent and the decedent's family;

(c) To assure that final disposition of a decedent is provided with dignity;

(d) To ensure that payment of a provider of funeral or final disposition services is appropriately disbursed by the county department;

(e) To provide that public funds are made available for payment of services pursuant to this section only after it has been determined that there are insufficient resources from the estate of the decedent or the decedent's legally responsible family members to cover the funeral or final disposition expenses; and

(f) To allow family members and friends of a decedent to contribute toward the charges of funeral or final disposition expenses to the extent the contributions do not exceed the specified combined reasonable charges for the expenses.

(2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Combined reasonable charges" means the total of all charges from all providers but in an amount not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars.

(a.5) "Contributions" means any monetary payment or donation made directly to the service provider or providers by a nonresponsible person to defray the expenses of a deceased public assistance or medical assistance recipient's funeral or final disposition.

(b) "Death benefit" means the payment made by the county department to the provider of funeral or final disposition services when adequate resources are not available from legally responsible persons or from the personal resources or income of the decedent or from contributions to cover the charges for funeral or final disposition expenses of a deceased public assistance or medical assistance recipient.

(c) "Decedent" means a deceased recipient of public assistance or medical assistance who was receiving benefits at the time of death.

(d) "Final resting place" means a space, either below or above the surface of the ground, for the interment or entombment of the remains of human bodies.

(e) "Legally responsible person" means a person who:

(I) Is the decedent's spouse or the decedent's parent if the decedent is an unemancipated minor who is under the age of eighteen; and

(II) Bears legal responsibility for the charges associated with the decedent's funeral or final disposition expenses.

(f) Repealed.

(f.5) "Medical assistance" means a payment on behalf of eligible recipients who are enrolled in the Colorado medical assistance program established in articles 4, 5, and 6 of title 25.5, which is funded through Title XIX of the federal "Social Security Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1396u-1.

(g) "Mortuary science practitioner" means one engaged in, or holding himself or herself out as being engaged in or conducting, embalming or final disposition of dead human bodies.

(h) "Nonresponsible person" means one of the following who makes a contribution to the charges for a funeral or final disposition or any combination of these charges:

(I) A relative of the decedent who is not a legally responsible person; or

(II) Any other person or party.

(i) "Public assistance" means payments to eligible recipients of the programs for old age pensions created in article XXIV of the state constitution, except for the old age pension health and medical care program described in section 25.5-2-101; the Colorado works program created in part 7 of this article 2; the aid to the needy disabled program created in section 26-2-119; the program for aid to the blind created in section 26-2-120; and the home care allowance program created in section 26-2-122.3.

(3) Subject to available appropriations, the county department shall pay a death benefit covering reasonable funeral expenses or reasonable final disposition expenses or a combination of these expenses for a decedent if the estate of the deceased is insufficient to pay the reasonable expenses and if the persons legally responsible for the support of the deceased are unable to pay the reasonable expenses. The state department shall reimburse a county department for eighty percent of the amount of the death benefit paid for recipients of aid to the needy disabled and recipients of assistance under the Colorado works program established pursuant to part 7 of this article 2 and one hundred percent of the amount of the death benefit paid for recipients of old age pensions. If the state department determines that the level of appropriation is insufficient to meet the demand for death benefits, the state department shall reduce the amount of the death benefit level to meet the amount appropriated by the general assembly for death benefits. In the event that a reduction is made, the county department has no additional responsibility beyond the benefit level as defined in the state department's rules.

(4) The total amount of a death benefit paid by the county department or state department pursuant to this section must not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars, and the combined reasonable charge of a funeral or final disposition or any combination of these expenses must not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars. Contributions from nonresponsible persons may be made without jeopardizing payment pursuant to this section and must be counted as an offset to the combined reasonable charges of the providers. If the combined reasonable charges from the providers exceed two thousand five hundred dollars, the state department and county department shall not pay a death benefit. Providers may seek contributions from nonresponsible persons only to the extent that money is available from the parties.

(5) A legally responsible person shall participate financially toward the charges for final disposition through a contribution to the combined reasonable charges if the person's resources are above the federal supplemental security income resource limits. A legally responsible person need not participate if the person has fewer resources than the supplemental security income resource limits or if participation would result in fewer resources than the supplemental security income resource limits. Any financial participation from a legally responsible person must be deducted from the combined reasonable charges in the same manner as the personal resources of the decedent and does not include the survivor's home or other excluded resources as provided for in the state department's rules. Any financial participation by a legally responsible person in excess of the legally required amount must be used to reduce the amount of the combined reasonable charges. Social security lump-sum death benefits payable to a legally responsible person must not be an automatic deduction from the combined reasonable charges. For purposes of this section, "resources" means:

(a) Those assets or income that are accessible and available to the legally responsible person;

(b) Disbursement of funds from any insurance policy of the decedent to a legally responsible person or nonresponsible person who is named as a beneficiary or a joint beneficiary of the decedent's policy. Nothing in this paragraph (b) shall grant authority to the county department to attach a lien against such funds or otherwise obtain or access these funds for payment of the final disposition of the decedent.

(6) In calculating the amount of the death benefit, any personal resources or income of the decedent is counted as a deduction from the maximum allowable combined reasonable charges. For purposes of this section, personal resources or income of the decedent includes the following:

(a) Any preneed contract for merchandise or services to be provided or performed in connection with the decedent's final disposition;

(b) Any other resources or income accessible and available in the name of the decedent, including jointly owned resources or income but only to the extent of the decedent's share of such jointly owned resources or income;

(c) A death benefit in which payment for services is directly paid to a provider of funeral or final disposition services for the decedent.

(7) (a) Ownership by a public assistance or medical assistance recipient of a final resting place, or the purchase thereof during the time the recipient is receiving that assistance, shall not disqualify the recipient from receiving that assistance, nor shall such ownership be deemed cause for any reduction in the amount of the recipient's assistance.

(b) Any portion of the purchase price of a final resting place owned by the decedent in excess of two thousand dollars must be counted as a personal resource of the decedent in calculating the amount of a death benefit pursuant to this section.

(c) A final resting place previously acquired by someone other than the decedent and donated for final disposition of that decedent must not be counted as a personal resource of the decedent or a legally responsible person in calculating the amount of a death benefit pursuant to this section.

(8) A statement of agreement between the providers must be on a form prescribed by the state department that sets forth the charges and the amounts of payments or contributions and must be completed prior to disbursement of funds by the county. The agreement must assure that the charges of all providers have been equitably addressed and must ascertain that the combined reasonable charges do not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars and that the combined contributions from all sources do not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars. All payments from a decedent's estate, payments from legally responsible persons, and contributions from nonresponsible persons must be paid directly to the provider of services. After the provision of all services, the providers must bill the county department directly for payment for appropriate costs that have not been covered by the resources from or contributions made by the decedent's estate, legally responsible persons, or nonresponsible persons. The county department shall pay the appropriate providers directly, based upon the statement of agreement.

(9) (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the disposition of a deceased public assistance or medical assistance recipient must be in accordance with subsection (9)(a)(I) or (9)(a)(II) of this section, as follows:

(I) A public assistance or medical assistance recipient may express, in writing and in accordance with a procedure established by the state department, a preference to be buried, cremated, or naturally reduced, or any combination of these practices. The expression shall be honored by the county department within the limits of costs and reimbursements specified in this section.

(II) The disposition of a public assistance or medical assistance recipient who has not expressed a preference shall be determined respectively by the recipient's spouse, adult children, parents, or siblings. Upon the death of a recipient, the county department shall use reasonable effort to contact such an authorized person to determine the disposition of the deceased recipient. If the effort does not result in contact with an authorized relative within twenty-four hours, the county shall immediately have the deceased recipient's body refrigerated or embalmed. If the effort does not result in contact with and decision by an authorized relative within seven days of the recipient's death, the county department shall determine whether to bury, cremate, or naturally reduce the deceased recipient on the basis of which option is less costly.

(b) The disposition of any public assistance or medical assistance recipient in accordance with this subsection (9) shall be in a timely and dignified manner.

(c) A mortuary science practitioner or any operator of any cemetery who has contracted for cremation services pursuant to this subsection (9) may dispose of the remains of any public assistance or medical assistance recipient cremated pursuant to this section that are not claimed within one hundred twenty days from the date of cremation. For the purposes of this paragraph (c), disposal of remains shall include, but need not be limited to, placing such remains in a cemetery, scattering grounds, or columbarium.

(10) The state department shall:

(a) Adopt rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this section; and

(b) (Deleted by amendment, L. 96, p. 1114, § 1, effective August 7, 1996.)

(c) Annually review death benefit levels to determine whether the levels are adequate to purchase funeral, cremation, burial, or natural reduction services for deceased public assistance or medical assistance recipients.

(11) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any person who, in good faith, disposes of a deceased recipient or the remains of a deceased recipient in accordance with this section shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability.