NOTICES
Notice of Comments Issued
[34 Pa.B. 3079] Section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(g)) provides that the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (Commission) may issue comments within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The Commission comments are based upon the criteria contained in section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5b).
The Commission has issued comments on the following proposed regulation. The agency must consider these comments in preparing the final-form regulation. The final-form regulation must be submitted within 2 years of the close of the public comment period or it will be deemed withdrawn.
Reg. No. Agency/Title Close of the Public Comment Period IRRC Comments Issued 14-481 Department of Public Welfare
Payment for Burial
(34 Pa.B. 1774 (April 3, 2004))
5/3/04 6/2/04
____
Department of Public Welfare Regulation No. 14-481 (IRRC No. 2395)
Payment for Burial
June 2, 2004 We submit for consideration the following comments that include references to the criteria in the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5b) which have not been met. The Department of Public Welfare (Department) must respond to these comments when it submits the final-form regulation. The public comment period for this regulation closed on May 3, 2004. If the final-form regulation is not delivered within 2 years of the close of the public comment period, the regulation will be deemed withdrawn.
1. Chapter 285. Payment for burial.--Fiscal impact; Reasonableness; Clarity.
Title of chapter
This chapter is entitled ''Payment for Burial.'' However, this chapter also includes arrangements for cremation. For clarity, the Department should change the title of this chapter to ''Payment for Burial and Cremation'' or ''Payment for Disposition.''
Funeral director
The existing regulations state that the Department will pay a ''funeral director'' for burial services. There are two concerns.
First, the term ''funeral director'' is not defined in the existing regulations. The final-form regulation should include a reference to the statutory definition of ''funeral director'' in section 2(1) of the Funeral Director Law (63 P. S. § 479.2(1)).
Second, how will the Department assure that other providers will receive a portion of the payment for the services they provide related to burial or cremation? For example, do funeral directors face penalties for failure to proportion payments to other providers? If so, how does the Department inform funeral directors of these penalties?
Estimated cost of the program
Item 19 of the Regulatory Analysis Form (RAF) states ''The Department estimates the annual cost for the program to be $1.116 million in state funds.'' This annual estimate is also found in the preamble of the proposed rulemaking. Item 13 of the RAF states ''approximately 216 payments were distributed to funeral directors from the Department in the past two years.'' Estimating 108 payments per year, at $750 per payment, the total expenditure for this program per year would be $80,000 annually. The Department should explain why the estimated costs of this program will increase so dramatically.
2. Section 285.3. Requirements.--Fiscal impact; Reasonableness; Clarity.
Subsection (c)--standards for burial
Several commentators expressed support for the proposed regulation but also suggested additional amendments. One group suggested the deletion of the minimum requirements for goods and services in subsection (c)(1) and (2). These requirements include: standard casket; standard outer case; suitable clothing for the remains; preparation of the remains; and transportation for the remains and the funeral party. This group claimed deletion of these specific items would provide recipients' families with greater flexibility and choice in planning funeral arrangements.
Another group suggested minor revisions to the minimum requirements while contending that most of the current requirements should be retained. They claimed the minimum requirements are useful for funeral directors, cemeteries, crematoriums and other providers in determining what is to be covered by the payments from the Department. The minimum requirements may also provide some protection to the recipients' families by assuring payment for certain items or services. The Department should thoroughly review the requirements and provide a rationale for retaining or revising the requirements or for deleting items from this subsection in the final-form regulation.
Subsection (e)--resources that do not reduce Department payment
The Department is proposing to delete clauses (A)--(C) of subsection (e)(1)(i). The references to clauses (A)--(C) in subsection (e)(1)(iii) should also be deleted in the final-form regulation.
JOHN R. MCGINLEY, Jr.,
Chairperson
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-1030. Filed for public inspection June 11, 2004, 9:00 a.m.]
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