AN ACT authorizing the office of the chief medical examiner to pay a fee to funeral directors who, by order of a county medical examiner, transport dead bodies to hospitals or funeral homes for examination; and requiring that the amount of this fee be adjusted for inflation once every four yearS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  The Commission for Public Health shall amend 10A NCAC 44 .0204 to do the following:

(1)        To require the State to pay a fee in the amount of forty dollars ($40.00) to any funeral director who, by order of a county medical examiner, transports a dead body to a hospital or funeral home for examination; provided, however, that no fee has been paid to a hospital pursuant to 10A NCAC 44 .0204 to transport the same body. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is authorized to begin paying this fee on the effective date of this act.

(2)        To require that, beginning January 1, 2027, and every four years thereafter, the Commission for Public Health adjust the amount of the fee paid pursuant to 10A NCAC 44 .0204 for inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Any such adjustment shall be rounded to the nearest cent.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to transports occurring on or after that date.