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Event Description

The Federal Trade Commission will hold a public workshop on September 7, 2023 seeking input on proposed changes to the Funeral Rule.

The workshop, which is free and open to the public, will take place at the Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW, Washington, D.C., 20024, and will be webcast live on the FTC’s website. 

The Commission issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making on November 2, 2022.  The workshop will explore many of the issues raised in the notice, including whether and how funeral providers should be required to display or distribute their price information online or through electronic means.

The workshop may cover topics such as:

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

The public can submit a comment on these topics until October 10, 2023. Instructions for filing comments are available in a Notice that has been published in the Federal Register. If a proposed panelist or commenter is affiliated with an entity that has provided funding for research, analysis, or commentary on relevant topics, please identify such funding and its source in your comment or in your request for consideration as a speaker.

  • Agenda

    Thursday, September 7

    8:30 am

    Registration
    9:30 - 9:45 am

    Welcome and Opening Remarks

    Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter
    9:50 - 11:00 am

    Online Disclosures: Is it Needed? The Pros/Cons

    Moderator:

    Rebecca Plett, Federal Trade Commission

    Panelists:

    Lacyn Barton, Service Corporation International
    Dr. Hari P. Close, II, National Funeral Directors & Morticians Association
    Chris Farmer, National Funeral Directors Association
    Poul Lemasters, International Cemetery, Cremation, & Funeral Association
    Sarah Pojanowski, Selected Independent Funeral Homes
    Erin Witte, Consumer Federation of America
    11:00 – 11:15 am

    Break
    11:15 – 12:00 pm

    Online Disclosures: Practical Considerations

    Moderator:

    Melissa Dickey, Federal Trade Commission

    Panelists:

    Effie Anolik, Afterword
    Jim Bates, Funeral Consumers Alliance of North Texas
    Layng Guerriero, AskTheDirector.com and FuneralKinetics.com
    Barbara Kemmis, Cremation Association of North America
    Isabel Knight, National Home Funeral Alliance
    12:00 – 12:45 pm

    Lunch Break
    12:45 – 12:50 pm

    Post-Lunch Introduction

    Dotan Weinman, Federal Trade Commission
    12:50 – 1:10 pm

    Basic Service Fee

    Moderator:

    Rebecca Plett, Federal Trade Commission

    Panelists::  

    Poul Lemasters, International Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Association
    Erin Witte, Consumer Federation of America
    1:15 – 2:05 pm

    General Price List Updates: Fee Disclosures and Mandatory Embalming Disclosures

    Moderator:

    Melissa Dickey, Federal Trade Commission

    Panelists:

    Chris Farmer, National Funeral Directors Association
    Barbara Kemmis, Cremation Association of North America
    Isabel Knight, National Home Funeral Alliance
    Sarah Pojanowski, Selected Independent Funeral Homes
    Wendy Russel Wiener, WRW Legal
    Erin Witte, Consumer Federation of America

     
    2:05 – 2:20 pm

    Break
    2:20 – 3:10 pm

    Alkaline Hydrolysis, Natural Organic Reduction, and Other New Trends in the Funeral Industry

    Moderator:

    Sammi Nachtigal, Federal Trade Commission

    Panelists:

    Sarah Chavez, Order of the Good Death
    Tanya Marsh, Wake Forest University School of Law
    Katrina Spade, Recompose
    Beverly Tryk, People’s Memorial Association
    3:10 – 3:15 pm

    Closing Remarks

    Lois C. Greisman, Federal Trade Commission

FTC Privacy Policy

Under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) or other laws, we may be required to disclose to outside organizations the information you provide when you pre-register for events that require registration. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments, whether filed in paper or electronic form, and as a matter of discretion, we make every effort to remove home contact information for individuals from the public comments before posting them on the FTC website.

The FTC Act and other laws we administer permit the collection of your pre-registration contact information and the comments you file to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. For additional information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see the Commission’s Privacy Act system for public records and comprehensive privacy policy.

This event will be open to the public and may be photographed, videotaped, webcast, or otherwise recorded.  By participating in this event, you are agreeing that your image — and anything you say or submit — may be posted indefinitely at ftc.gov or on one of the Commission's publicly available social media sites.

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