Federal Trade Commission’s review of the “Funeral Rule” marches on

September 6, 2023/Regulations/

Tomorrow, Thursday, September 7, 2023, you can join a public workshop led by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the new proposals to the “Funeral Rule”. The workshop, taking place in Washington, DC, can be joined live online and according to the Federal Trade Commission, it will explore many of the issues raised in the FTC’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making.

The workshop will feature five live panel discussions on potential changes to the “Funeral Rule” which has been in existence in its present form for almost 40 years and includes General Price List (GPL) disclosures among other regulations. Of much interest to the Death Care profession is the potential requirement for Death Care provider’s GPL’s to be available online to consumers.

The five panels expected to make up the agenda for Thursday’s workshop include (all times Eastern time):

9:50 am — “Online Disclosure: Is it Needed?”
11:15 am — “Online Disclosure: Practical Considerations”
12:45 pm — “Service Fees”
1:15 pm — “General Price List Updates: Fee disclosures and Mandatory embalming disclosures:
2:20 pm — “Final Discussion: Moderated by the FTC’s Sammi Nachtigal”

From a list that Funeral Director Daily came upon, it appears that each panel will have proponents of differing sides. For instance, there are spokespeople for consumer alliances as well as Death Care profession advocates on each panel. Some of the people representing professional organizations involved in the Death Care profession in these discussions include:

Chris Farmer, NFDA
Poul Lemasters, International Cemetery, Cremation, & Funeral Association (ICCFA)
Barbara Kemmis, Cremation Association of North America (CANA)
Sarah Pojanowski, Selected Independent Funeral Homes

You can learn more, including how to register to watch the discussions, from these links: