Counties Urge State Assistance with Skyrocketing
Coroner and Medical Examiner Costs
Coroner and Medical Examiner Costs
NYSAC Calls on the State to Reimburse Counties For 50% of Autopsy Costs.
By the end of 2018, counties across the state expect to have
spent over $121 million on coroner and medical examiner services. This is an
increase of 7.7% over 2017.
Prior to 2011, county coroner’s and medical examiners were
reimbursed up to 36% with state aid from Article 6 funding to local health
departments. In 2011, the State Budget shifted reimbursement for medical
examiners from the NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH) to the NYS Department of
Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the funding was no longer available.
"This is a quintessential state mandate. Counties
across the state are responsible for administering a coroner or medical
examiner program. These costs used to be eligible for partial state
reimbursement, but that funding has since gone away, leaving counties to make
up the difference," said Stephen Acquario, Executive Director of the NYS
Association of Counties (NYSAC).
Autopsy services are triggered when a death is unattended,
the result of a car accident, suspected overdose, or suicide. While the state
and counties continue to battle the opioid epidemic, costs such as autopsy and
toxicology services as well as cold body storage have been on the rise. A
shortage of service providers and forensic pathologists has exacerbated the problem.
Based on these factors, NYSAC is urging the Governor and
state leaders to include a 50% state funding match for autopsy services as part
of the 2019-2020 state budget. While autopsy costs are a fraction of the net
total spent by counties on coroner and medical examiner services, state
assistance will go a long way toward easing this fiscal burden on counties.
"The opioid epidemic continues to plague our
communities. Every level of government needs to work together on this crisis,
on all fronts - from first responders to last responders," said Acquario.
