SECTION 1. Section 4 of chapter 38 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following paragraph:-

If, in carrying out the duties prescribed by this section, the inquiry and investigation into the cause and circumstances of a death shall require the chief medical examiner, or his designee, to list the cause of death on a death certificate issued by the chief medical examiner, or such designee, as pending, the office shall, at the request of a beneficiary of the decedent’s life insurance policy, issue a letter to the decedent’s insurer regarding the beneficiary’s role in the decedent’s death or lack thereof.

SECTION 2. Section 132 of chapter 175 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting in the first paragraph, after subparagraph 12, the following subparagraph:-

13. A provision that the company shall process a claim filed by a beneficiary upon the death of the policy holder upon receiving, in lieu of a certified copy of a death certificate with cause of death listed, an official copy of a death certificate with cause of death listed as pending and a letter from the office of the chief medical officer pursuant to the fifth paragraph of section 4 of chapter 38.