(a) Where the decedent was a medical assistance or financial assistance recipient at the time of death and is ineligible for the Social Security Administration’s one-time lump-sum death benefit, the department may issue a lump-sum death benefit in an amount equal to the Social Security Administration’s one-time lump-sum death benefit for the year in which the recipient died.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 346-15

  • county: includes the city and county of Honolulu. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 1-22
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Department: means the department of human services. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 346-1
  • Financial assistance: means public assistance, except for payments for medical care, social service payments, transportation assistance, and emergency assistance under § 346-65, including funds received from the federal government. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 346-1
  • Medical assistance: means payment for medical care or personal care services, including funds received from the federal government. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 346-1
  • Provider: means any person or public or private institution, agency or business concern authorized by the department to provide health care, service or supplies to beneficiaries of medical assistance. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 346-1
  • Recipient: means the person for whose use and benefit services are rendered or a grant of public assistance is made. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 346-1
(b) All unclaimed dead human bodies shall undergo cremation as defined in § 531B-2. The department may bear the cost of the mortuary , crematory, or hydrolysis facility services for unclaimed dead human bodies furnished by any licensed provider of these services. Payments for these services shall be made to the extent of the cost, or in the sum of $800 in total, whichever is less, for each unclaimed dead human body. Individuals who have possession, charge, or control of any unclaimed dead human body to undergo cremation at public expense shall have sixty days from the date of the deceased’s death to submit in writing to the department its determination that the dead human body is unclaimed and its application for payment for cremation. The county medical examiners or coroners shall have no time limitation by which to submit their written determination that the dead human body is unclaimed and their application for payment for cremation.
(c) Any person submitting an application for the lump-sum death benefit described in subsection (a), on behalf of a deceased medical or financial assistance recipient, shall have sixty days from the date of death of the deceased to submit the application to the department.
(d) A person or public or private agency, including the department, shall not be liable for any damage or subject to criminal prosecution for any act done pursuant to and in compliance with this section.
(e) For the purposes of this section, “unclaimed dead human body” means the remains of any deceased person for whom no one has assumed responsibility for disposition and no legally responsible individual has been identified. Pursuant to section 327-32, the department shall review the written description of the efforts used in making the determination that a dead human body is unclaimed and approve the determination for purposes of payment of the mortuary , crematory, or hydrolysis facility services, if it meets the department’s requirements.
(f) The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 for purposes of administering and implementing this section.

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