West Virginia officials are blaming the opioid crisis for depleting a financial assistance program that helps needy families bury their dead.

The program is nearly out of money four months before the end of the fiscal year, according to the state's Department of Health and Human Resources, The Washington Post reported.

Funeral directors in West Virginia say the state's drug overdose epidemic, the worst in the nation, is to blame.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Virginia's drug overdose death rate stood at 41.5 cases per 100,000 residents, the highest rate in the country and nearly three times the national average.

Pennsylvania was named by the federal agency as one of the states having the biggest increases in overdose deaths between 2014 and 2015.

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Lancaster County saw 117 overdose deaths from opioids, an all-time high, in 2016.

West Virginia's indigent burial program provides about $2 million a year for funeral financial assistance. The program offers an average of $1,250 to help cover funeral expenses for families who can't otherwise afford them.

In the current fiscal year ending June 30, "1,508 burials have been submitted for payment through the Indigent Burial Program," according to Allison Adler, a spokesman for West Virginia's Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Bill Crouch. "There are funds remaining for 63 additional burials."

The program has been around for decades, according to Adler, but only began running out of funds starting in 2013. In 2014, the program ran out of money in June. By 2015, the program's budget was depleted by March, similar to where it stands this year.