Giving new meaning to the concept of cradle-to-grave care, the city of Buffalo paid $2 million to provide health insurance for 152 deceased employees.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government sent pension checks to a supposedly 111-year-old man, who was found “mummified in his bed, dead for more than three decades,” his checks cashed by his daughter. In addition, officials have not been able to locate another 281 pensioners who reportedly are 100 years old or older.

It’s not clear whether the Japanese scandal was caused by pension fraud, faulty government bookkeeping or “disintegrating family ties,” reports the New York Times.

In contrast, Buffalo City Comptroller Andrew SanFilippo clearly faults the city’s Department of Human Resources for insuring former employees beyond the grave. According to the audit:

We found 152 employees for whom the City was paying medical benefits, who were in fact deceased. This has resulted in $1.998 million taxpayer dollars being spent on healthcare premiums for deceased employees. The majority of the employees died within the last 3 fiscal years, representing 96 percent of the costs, but some had deceased as long ago as 1998.

The audit says $2 million expenditure could have been avoided if the city matched its beneficiaries against the federal government’s Social Security Death Index. Updated monthly, the index costs $34,585. Auditors, “using free services available on the Internet,” confirmed the 152 deaths. (The audit does not indicate how many of the “former employees” were retirees or active employees at the time of their deaths.)

On January 11, Mayor Byron Brown ordered Human Resources Director Karla Thomas to “immediately subscribe to the monthly reports of deaths from the Social Security Administration.” She did not.

“To be honest, it’s a disgrace,” SanFilippo told the Buffalo News.

A December audit also found the city had overpaid a $526,309 to insure 250 employees. Thomas has yet to recoup funds from the insurance carrier–despite the mayor ordering her to do so in January.

Brown has not ruled out firing Thomas, whom he appointed two years ago, according to the News. In a second story, the newspaper reports Brown “circumvented rules” when he appointed Thomas to a six-year term.

Originally Published: NY Public Payroll Watch, August 19, 2010

You may also like

Pols Craft More Handouts for Sinking Construction Unions

New York’s construction unions, facing a decades-long decline, are employing a time-honored tactic: getting state government to stop people from competing with them. Read More

Union Rallies Long Island Pols Against NYC Kids

New York’s statewide teachers union has been cashing in political chits as it seeks to block new charter schools from opening in New York City, asking the senators and assemblymembers Read More

Utility board turns into union tool

The idea that the PSC would artificially drive electricity costs higher to benefit a political constituency represents a new low. Read More

New Docs Raise Big Questions About NY’s Megafab Mega-Deal

The Hochul Administration published a pair of documents concerning the Micron Megafab deal that raise more questions than they answer. Read More

City union scandal isn’t NY’s first

One of New York City’s largest public-sector unions has been effectively taken over by its national parent after an audit revealed extensive financial mismanagement. It’s the latest example of misconduct made possible under New York’s public-sector collective bargaining rules that force the government to collect hundreds of millions of dollars annually without any safeguards on how the funds are spent.  Read More

Firefighter-rights bill torches local control

Two of Albany’s most-vetoed concepts are headed toward Governor Hochul’s desk, this time concealed as a “firefighter bill of rights.”  Read More

Still-Unreleased Union Deal Rains Cash on State Workers

The still-unreleased deal between the Hochul Administration and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), state government’s largest group of unionized workers, would award bonuses, backpay, and guaranteed raises the next three years, documents sent to union members show. Read More

Thanks to Unions, NYC’s School Reopening Deal Was Costly and Educationally Hazardous

New York City schools reopened this fall under terms dictated by the city's teacher and principal unions. Now, as city schools close -- once more at the unions' behest -- the city is left with thousands of extra teachers hi Read More