Insurance in the afterlife

So much for "You can't take it with you."

A recent audit of 20 New York State school districts found retirees have carried health benefits to the grave and beyond.

Of the 20 districts audited, four bought health insurance for dead people: Long Beach, Westbury, Smithtown and South Country. In the most egregious example, Long Beach paid more than $99,000 in premiums for retiree P.J. McCray after he died in 1999.

The audit confirms the worst suspicions of taxpayers. It's not just that public entities spend too much, it's that they blow it carelessly.

If a narrow audit of 20 districts finds such waste, how much gets wasted by every governmental entity combined, in every area?

Confirming beneficiaries are alive is a baseline of efficiency that, when it isn't done, makes us believe nothing is being done efficiently.

Public entities would be wise to put controls in place. Tough as it is to limit spending on benefits, the afterlife is a wise place to start. hN