Sec. 12.65.025. - Post mortem examinations. - Alaska Statutes

(a) The state medical examiner shall designate the facilities at which post mortem examinations and autopsies ordered under this chapter may be performed. The Department of Health and Social Services shall pay the costs of

(1) post mortem examinations and autopsies ordered under this chapter;

(2) related transportation to the location where the post mortem examination is conducted and then to the community closest to where the death occurred, except that transportation costs to another requested location may be paid to the extent that the costs do not exceed the costs of returning the body to the community closest to where the death occurred;

(3) embalming required by law; and

(4) cosmetology necessary to make the head, face, neck, and hands of the deceased presentable if those parts of the body are disfigured by the post mortem examination.

(b) The Department of Health and Social Services shall provide clothing and a casket for the deceased if the person legally responsible for the burial, other than the state, is unable to pay for clothing and a casket and the responsible person does not object.

(c) Instead of paying the cost of services listed under (a)(3), (a)(4), and (b) of this section, the Department of Health and Social Services may pay for the cremation and inurnment of the deceased if

(1) the person legally responsible for the burial requests or approves the cremation and inurnment; and

(2) the cost to the department of the cremation and inurnment does not exceed the cost to the state of services listed under (a)(3), (a)(4), and (b) of this section that the department would otherwise pay for or provide for the deceased.

(d) The Department of Health and Social Services shall establish the maximum amounts or rates that the department will pay for services under this section. Facilities designated under (a) of this section, as a condition of their designation, shall agree to accept reimbursement from the department as payment in full for services provided by the facility under this section, and may not seek reimbursement for those services from a third party.

(e) A person is "unable to pay" under this section if the person

(1) is eligible for assistance under AS 47.25.120 - 47.25.300; or

(2) is otherwise unable to provide clothing and a casket for the deceased.