The number of indigent burials paid for by the state has increased by nearly 40 percent since 2006, a number that has crept steadily upward each year, according to figures provided by the Colorado Department of Human Services.
And funeral homes that cater to the lower-income bracket say cremation is accounting for a higher percentage of their state-assisted business mostly because people simply cannot afford the cost of a standard casket burial any longer.
"It's getting worse and worse," said Lequita Taylor, whose Taylor Funeral and Cremation Services in Aurora has seen a 50 percent uptick in indigent burials over the past couple of years.
"Many, many more people who don't want cremation are having to do it because it's the only way they can afford a burial," Taylor said. "People simply don't have the money, or simply don't have the insurance or dropped it because they couldn't afford it anymore."
In all, the state paid more than $1.6 million in burial and cremation assistance for 1,552 people in the 2010 fiscal year, which ended June 30, records show.
In 2006, that number was 1,132 people at a cost of $1.2 million.
Though Denver, the county with the largest number of assisted burials, has seen an equally large increase, what's more telling is the number of people who request help but are refused.
"We've not reduced the guidelines, but so many feel the crunch and they're seeking the assistance," said Revekka Balancier, spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Human Services. "Unfortunately, the economy prevents some from planning for it or the funds that were set aside had to be used for something else."
In 2007, Denver assisted with the burial costs for 466 people. About 110 people who applied for help were rejected for eligibility reasons.
In 2010, the number to receive help jumped to 802.
And 2011 appears to be headed even higher as 524 had received burial assistance through August.
Rejections are running at about 30 per month, Balancier said — or 360 people a year.
In Colorado, burial assistance is available to people whose personal estate is valued at less than $2,500. Even those with wealthy families are eligible.
The state will pay up to $1,000 on a funeral that cannot exceed $2,500 — and only those on public assistance qualify.
Counties are left to pay for the burials of the truly indigent, anyone with no income or possessions and not receiving any form of public assistance. The stipend: $700.
That doesn't pay for a lot, Taylor says, but that simply has made for more creative thinking.
"One family thought they had insurance and did not," she said of a client. "We were able to do the cremation, and they had a lovely memorial service in a park. Sometimes families aren't able to do more because they still have to eat."
SOURCE: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_19407640
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