Recently, I saw on the news that in Massachusetts more than $2 million in government aid was wasted when it was sent to people who had died.

I assume that is just at the state level, and just for that state. I imagine the waste at the federal level to be several times higher than that.

It seems to me that all that government waste could be easily solved.

If doctors are required by law to report gunshot wounds, and in this age of computers, why isn’t there a federal website, established by law, so that when a doctor makes out a death certificate, the doctor would be required to also send the name of the deceased to that site, where it would be available for both state and federal government agencies?

It seems to me that it would save hundreds of millions of dollars in waste at a time when everyone is looking for cuts.

Frederick Wing, Lewiston