The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be holding a free public workshop on September 7, 2023, at 9:30am on the proposed revisions to the Funeral Rule. The event is in Washington, D.C., but will be webcast live on the FTC’s website. See AGENDA. [Archived recording here.]

Note about the recording, which runs for almost 6 hours: you can fast forward to parts of the agenda that interest you; as a guide, Carol Coan offers these time-marks to the recorded content:

  • 0:15 – 1:30  Online Disclosures:  Is an amendment Needed?  Pros/Cons
  • 1:47 – 2:35  Online Disclosures:  Practical Considerations
  • 3:20 – 3:22  Post-lunch Introduction
  • 3:22 – 3:45  Basic Service[s] Fee
  • 3:48 – 4:40  General Price List Updates:  Fee Disclosures [especially crematory fee] and Mandatory Embalming Disclosures
  • 4:53 – 5:45  Alkaline Hydrolysis, Natural Organic Reduction, and Other New Trends in the Funeral Industry
  • 5:45 – 5:48  Closing Remarks

The public may submit comments until October 10, 2023. To submit a comment to the Federal Trade Commission, visit regulations.gov at the following link:  https://www.regulations.gov/document/FTC-2023-0034-0001. You may submit your comment electronically there.

For more about the workshop, see this FTC Press release: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ftc-host-workshop-examining-issues-related-proposed-changes-funeral-rule

Topics likely to be explored in the workshop:

  • online or electronic disclosures of price information
  • new forms of disposition of human remains
  • the general price list mandated by the rule, and more.

Note: Last fall the Commission issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making. This workshop will explore many of the issues raised in that notice, including whether and how funeral providers should be required to display or distribute their price information online or through electronic means.

We (FCAWM) strongly support FTC’s proposal to mandate online posting of General Price Lists. That would be very helpful for consumers.

Update: On 9/20/23 Caitlyn Doughty posted a VIDEO commenting about this FTC workshop and why it is so important to support revision of the Funeral Rule. Her video is titled, “Why Are Funerals So Expensive?”