Current Events and Death Care

June 12, 2026/Business, Regulations/

I got up yesterday morning and took a look at the news feed that I recieve in my e-mail inbox. I started looking at the headlines of the articles and realized that each one will have some impact on Death Care business. So, in somewhat of an unusual Funeral Director Daily, I’m sharing some of those headlines and articles and also putting a little bit of Funeral Director Daily commentary with each one. Hope you enjoy my takes. . . and have a great weekend.

“Hot May inflation reading reinforces Fed’s path to hold interest rates next week”. Yahoo Finance

Funeral Director Daily take: This article points out that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.2% in May, in line with expectations but higher than April’s 3.8%. It indicates that inflation is still with us and probably means that interest rates must stay “higher for longer” to fight the inflationary pressures.

For your business it means that any interest you are paying on capital projects and on purchases from suppliers will not have an interest rate decrease any time soon. There had been some hope of such but this news indicates that a drop in interest rates will not be forthcoming. In my opinion, if inflation cannot get under control you might see rates eventually increase to higher levels.

Increased rates could lead to a slow-down of acqusitions as the cost to make the acquisition would be higher because of higher finance costs. On the contrary side of that thinking, acquisitions could be moved up in timing to get in front of any potential interest increase.

Here is an interesting graph about the 1970’s inflation rate flow as compared to the latest inflation rates since 2014. While the comparison ends in 2024, I can see similarities moving forward. For instance, the current CPI of 4.2% in May 2026 fits squarely on the graph in comparison with where the inflation was in 1978. If inflation cannot be brought under control history indicates that we may see another surge in higher inflation moving forward.

“Paychecks are losing to inflation again”. Yahoo Finance

This article points out that “Average hourly earnings rose 3.4% over the past year in May, but consumer prices rose 4.2%, leaving wage growth behind inflation for a second straight month“.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: Personnel and staff pay is one of the major “fixed” costs of operating a funeral home operation. Employers need to take note of the CPI and its increases because that inflation can strip-out any wage gains that employees have made in the past couple of years.

Salaries and wages become an “embedded” cost of doing business. Once granted they almost never go down. So, even when inflation pressures may ease, owners are left with higher staff costs that are probably passed on to consumers in the price of services and goods.

And, if those consumers feel the prices are too great they may opt for less services or look for a less expensive competitor.

Owners and managers have to judiciously tight-rope how they grant wage increases. Too tough on holding the line and your employees may look elsewhere. . . .Too generous on giving increases and you may have higher than necessary wages going forward if inflation eases.

“Medicare program unable to pay full benefit in seven years, report finds”. Yahoo Finance

This article points out that the Medicare Trust Fund that pays for Medicare Part A will not be able to “fully-fund” its committtments come 2032. This is not akin to going “bankrupt” but just not being able to fully fund the Medicare portion that includes hospital stays.

Funeral Director Daily take: There’s a couple of big problems in any solution to this issue. Medicare is very complex and you really don’t learn that until you turn age 65, like me, and use its coverages and services. For instance, Medicare Part B, which in general covers physician services, is funded by premiums on Medicare patients like me — a monthly fee is paid either by a deduction of one’s Social Security benefit or by a billed premium statement. And, it is income-based via brackets. The more income one makes, the more the premium costs.

The concern with the article today is that it is on Medicare Part A which is funded by employee and employer payroll deductions. There are probably two ways to “fix” the issue brought up in the article. One is that hospitals could reduce their charges by 10-15% to cover the expected gap in funding. In a country where 19% of the economy is built on Health Care, it is my opinion that would be a devastating option that would probably cause mass layoffs at medical facilities. I think it would lead to a rationing of care and have a cascading negative effect on employment across the country.

The second way to escape this situation is for an increase in the income of Medicare B which would mean an increase in the withholding of all employees and an employer match to that amount. In a time period when employees are already losing “real wages” to inflation and funeral homes are seeing an erosion in margins, that doesn’t seem like a great option either.

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