ALBANY — Ten upstate and suburban school districts shelled out more than $200,000 to pay health benefits for retirees over the past two years — retirees who were dead — state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said yesterday.

A district-by-district audit of health expenses found that schools, including some in Long Beach, Mamaroneck, Smithtown and Westbury, continued to pay benefits to 28 retired employees even though they were deceased or otherwise ineligible. Of the $239,000 improperly paid out, $117,556 had been recovered.

“Paying health-insurance premiums for deceased retirees is not a good way to spend taxpayers’ money,” DiNapoli said. “These districts did not have reliable ways to verify if retirees were dead or alive. They need to protect taxpayer dollars by verifying eligibility before they pay premiums.”

DiNapoli’s audit zeroed in on “at-risk” districts that don’t require retirees to contribute to premiums and therefore didn’t always know when a beneficiary had died.