(11-5-08) MORE ON NPS: This week, many funeral homes received a sort-of combination memo/update/press release/instructions from the NPS Receiver. Because of its length and some of the wording, our office has had calls concerned that something may have changed. This is not the case. Nothing has changed with what the Receivership/Guarantee Fund will be paying.
     The language that concerns some people is where it says the "Guarantee Fund does not pay on funeral contracts only on insurance policies." However, in Missouri almost all NPS money was either used to purchase insurance policies or it was supposed to have been used to purchase insurance policies (such as with many of the rollovers that were done in the last year). The Guarantee Fund will be covering all of those claims based on the insurance that was purchased or that was supposed to have been purchased. This is why the Guarantee Fund will be paying the face value on the vast majority of claims but not any growth or at-need prices.
     This is how it has always been from the moment the Guarantee Funds agreed to take on the NPS situation. There has been no change.
     Likewise the claim procedure set out in the memo is what we have been putting out to the members for the last couple of weeks. It is not worded as clearly as it is in other memos and emails on the subject, but it is still the same. MFDEA does have a concern about the delay the two-step process will cause in making future claims and we have a meeting scheduled later this month with the interested parties to discuss that and other matters.
     As noted earlier, I would like to hear from someone that has recently followed the new process for claims and let me know how it went so I can pass that information on.
     Lastly, at least one funeral home was given incorrect information by the Receivership that indicated it needed to send in itemized statements/bills for their already filed pre-Oct. 23) claims. This was incorrect. For claims that were filed under the old procedure prior to Oct 23 all you need to send to the Receivership is the Release/Assignment form and a W-9 form. It is only on FUTURE claims that NPS is requiring the itemized statement. The Receivership has corrected this error with the one funeral home but if you are told something like this about any of your claims, please call me at 573-635-1661 so we can clear things up.

(11-4-08) - NPS Checks Being Received!   The Association has heard from several Funeral Homes that they have received checks from the NPS Receivership on “old” claims filed before Oct 22. At the status review conference last week, we were told that the Receivership would try to process these on a first in/first out basis but that their could be some discrepancies as they were trying to do them in groups to speed up the process. Their goal was to catch up to the backlog of claims by the end of November. Therefore, if you have old claims and do not receive anything by then, you should fax an inquiry into the receivership with a list of your pending claims.
   MFDEA will be meeting with the Guarantee Fund, the State Board, the AG's office and others later this month to discuss the ongoing claims process. Our chief concern is the delay in payment that the various requirements are likely to cause. If you send in any new claims this month, please let our office know how the procedure worked for you and how you feel it could be improved.
FBI NPS Questionnaire: Several Funeral Homes have received a questionnaire from the FBI regarding NPS operations. Our office has confirmed that this is a legitimate inquiry from the FBI and we expect that more funeral homes will receive the inquiry. If you receive one of these questionnaires we urge you to fill it out promptly and completely and return it as requested.
New MFDEA Benefit – Credit Card Processing:   We are proud to announce that Electronic Merchant Systems is the endorsed Credit Card Processing company for MFDEA members. MFDEA researched the available companies for over a year and chose EMS as they could provide our members the best combination of services, rates and fees. Members can receive a credit card processing rate that beats every other company researched, even the NFDA endorsed vendor. If your funeral home accepts credit/debit cards, or wishes to start accepting credit/debit cards, for any of your transactions, you need to contact EMS for their rates and services. Chances are they can save your funeral home a lot of money. You can contact Marty Burns, EMS representative, at 1-816-244-4250 or via email at mburns303@centurytel.net. You can also visit EMS's website at emscorporate.com.

(10-31-08; 3:45 p.m.)  Clarifying items on the new claims procedure for NPS, here is the official notification document on the new claims process from the Guarantee Fund: http://www.mo-iga.org/LML-After%20Oct.%2022%202008.pdf
     Regarding the release: I have been told by the Guarantee Fund that  EITHER the family can sign the release or the Funeral Home will be able to sign a release that includes an indemnification clause. It is not REQUIRED that the family sign the release form. (although, when possible, it is my opinion that the legally better option for the funeral home is to have the family sign. That, of course, may not be the best option for your funeral home depending on the circumstances and the families you are dealing with)
     The reason for the release to be signed by either the funeral home or the family is because, in Missouri, the Guarantee fund pays money to "insureds." When they do this they need a release from the "insureds" that gives the Fund the right to try and recover the money they paid on the claim.
     Unfortunately in the current situation, NPS was, technically, the "insured" under most of the policies we are dealing with. For this and other reasons, as part of the Receivership, the "insured" is now considered to be those who are to receive the funeral goods or services. So even though the funeral home is getting the money, there still needs to be something sent to the Guarantee Fund that effectuates a "release" from the "insured."
     This, then, can be done one of two ways. Either the  next-of-kin signs the release form or the funeral home signs a release form (similar to the one that you signed for pre Oct-22 claims) that includes a paragraph where you indemnify the Guarantee Fund IF an insured should ever sue the Guarantee Fund. It is hard to imagine why or on what grounds family that has received the funeral they contracted for would ever sue, but this is what the Fund needs.
     Regarding the bill that they are requesting. This should be a bill that reflects your current prices for the goods and services that were provided and shows NPS as the party that should be paying the bill. This is being required to confirm that the contract amount is not MORE that what your current prices are (for example the contract was for $5000 but the funeral only cost $4500). I cannot imagine that actually happening, but the Receivership needs to have documentation to that effect.
     One major question is why the two-step process? Why can't you have all the forms there to be signed just one time? The answer to that is the Receivership wants to first send to the funeral home a document that shows what will ACTUALLY be paid on the contract and that the release form will show that that is the amount that was received by the funeral home on that specific contract. In other words, each release form will have specific numbers for that particular contract. Although this certainly adds time to the process, it will give the funeral home a very good and clear record of what NPS should have paid you and what you are getting from the Guarantee Fund.
      I have expressed the concern about the two-step process to the Guarantee Fund and they are looking at ways to try to address this issue.to speed things up. The Guarantee Fund is constrained by a number of state laws that requires it to do certain things, but their staff is very aware of the problem of delays in payment and I feel is trying to do everything in their power to speed up the process.  For those that have fax and internet capability, the process should go faster as you can fax the documents to Texas and you should receive the documents that need to be signed electronically.
     On a separate note, I have been informed that, if you signed and mailed in the FIRST version of the pre-Oct 22 Release form, you DO NOT need to sign and send in the revised version. It is the revised version that the Guarantee Fund is considering the official form regardless of which one you signed and sent in.
     Lastly, LINKED, is the most recent press release from the Texas regulators.

(10-31-08) NPS CLAIMS PROCEDURES FOR NEW CLAIMS
     As noted in earlier updates, all that a funeral home should need to do for claims filed prior to Oct 22 is to sign the Release form and send it and a W-9 form to the NPS receivership at the address listed below. The instructions and the updated release form can be found in our earlier emails and at the Lincoln Memorial Web Site: http://www.lincolnmemoriallife.com/Forms.aspx .     
1) Fill out a verified statement of performance (copies can be found on the Lincoln Web site and in the just mailed "Missouri Funeral Directors" magazine.)
2) Have an itemized statement of goods and services/funeral home bill; and
3) a copy of the death certificate. (IF you are going to fax the documents, you will need to make a photocopy of the death certificate and write or stamp "copy" across the face of the document before faxing being careful not to obscure important information.)
4) a W-9 form only if you have not already sent a W-9 form to NPS -- YOU ONLY NEED TO SEND IN A W-9 FORM ONCE!!!
     You may then fax all of these documents to the NPS receivership at 512-328-0072 or you can mail the documents to: Claims Department , PO BOX 160050, Austin, TX 78716.
     If you do choose to mail in the documents, be certain to keep a copy of everything for your records. After NPS receives this information, they will send to the funeral home a statement of what you will be paid along with a release for the next-of-kin to sign. The next of kin will need to sign this release which then must be sent back to NPS before your check will be mailed. (If for any reason the next-of-kin cannot sign the release, then the funeral home will have to sign a release with an indemnification clause similar to the one that was on the pre-Oct 22 claim release forms.)
As part of this process be sure to keep copies of all your documents and also be sure to keep track of the difference between what you receive from the Receivership and what NPS should have paid you. In the event that additional assets are recovered as part of the litigation, you will need to know what is the "shortage" on each contract. At the most recent Status Conference the NPS Receivership stated that one of their next priorities will be asset recovery. There is no way to know at this point how much, if anything, may be recovered, but it is important that funeral homes keep good records showing their losses

TROUBLE FOR NPS RELATED CEMETERY?
An Illinois state audit has found that more than $300,000 is missing from more than 450 prepaid accounts at Mount Hope Cemetery in Belleville and Valley View Cemetery in Illinois. The full story can be found here: http://www.bnd.com/news/local/story/524819.html

(10-29-08) The Missouri Guarantee Fund has listened to our concerns and has agreed to revise the release form that needs to be signed by funeral homes in order to get payment. LINKED HERE is a copy of the form. This takes care of the problems that I identified in the first release form. You only need to sign this form once (and send in a W-9) and that covers all claims submitted prior to Oct 22. As mentioned yesterday, as soon as NPS has these forms they will start processing the checks and hopefully will have the old claims cleared out in a month.
Although the Release form has changed, the instructions are still the same and can be found here:
http://www.lincolnmemoriallife.com/documents/Funeral%20Home%20Instructions%20Missouri%20Only.pdf
In the "What has your Association done for you lately" category, please let people, especially non-member firms, know that in the last week MFDEA has significantly helped its membership by working with the NPS parties on allowing copies of death certificates to be faxed and in getting a much better release form available.
Thank you for your patience in this matter and thanks to the Guarantee Fund, Vital Records and our State Board for being open to suggestions and being willing to work on these matters.

(10-27-08; 3:45 p.m.) NPS and DEATH CERTIFICATES and OTHER
Working with the State Board, Vital Records and The Guarantee Fund we have reached a solution to the issue of how to submit Death Certificates on NPS Claims. NPS and the Guarantee Fund will accept a faxed copy of the official Death Certificate. Vital Records has informed us that, under the circumstances and in light of the court orders in Texas it is permissible to fax the Death Certificate to NPS so long as it is marked with the word "COPY." Of course the word "COPY cannot be obscuring any important information and if the faxed copy comes through unclear or not readable you may be asked to provide and actual Death Certificate.
There was not much new information at the Court hearing/status review today that was not covered in the earlier In The Loop report. We were told the status of the companies in liquidation and you can read the reports at: http://www.lincolnmemoriallife.com/Notices.aspx.
Also, if you missed the earlier email from today, the notice regarding NPS Payments can be found here: http://pr.mo.gov/boards/embalmers/notice.pdf.
One continuing question is when will funeral homes find out if any of their contracts are in what they are calling the "orphan" file, meaning there is no indication of insurance and that they are not, therefore, covered by the Guarantee Fund. The answer is they are working on it but there is no time frame yet on when that information will be sent to the funeral homes. When that happens we will have to address that issue further. I am hoping to have a response from the Guarantee Fund on my revisions to the General Release Form in the next day or so, so watch your emails for updates.