Could a state fail at any more basic a mission?
"Backlog of death certificates can tangle lives; Insurance claims, settling of estates slowed" by Deirdre Fernandes | Globe Staff June 17, 2014
John Morrison was still recovering from his wife’s death in March when he found himself in an unexpected limbo: He would have to wait up to six months for the state to issue the official certificate listing the cause of Anne Marie’s death.
That meant a delay in closure, and in his ability to collect benefits on her life insurance.
“We’re stuck in the grieving process and this is one more thing in the process,” Morrison said.
Such delays have become increasingly common for families in Massachusetts, who must rely on the state medical examiner’s office, with its massive backlog of incomplete death certificates, to issue the crucial document needed to settle estates or process life insurance claims.
The number of unfinished death certificates soared to 947 last year from 58 in 2011, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety, which oversees the medical examiner’s office. Some families who lost loved ones in 2011 are still awaiting final death certificates.
“We understand that causes a severe hardship with estates and insurances,” said Curtis Wood, the Massachusetts undersecretary for forensic science for public safety. “It’s a process challenge and a volume challenge. They’re unacceptable to us, but they are what they are.”
Wow, that's rather insensitive coming from the state.
It is what it is, huh?
What's next, stop crying?
--more--"
Related: Thursday Death Certificate
Well, they say there are only two things for certain in this life: death and taxes.
Make it one in Massachusetts.
