The next-to-last section of the Funeral Rule notice (Issues 32-36) deals with what the FTC calls Price List Readability. This seemed to us as a very nebulous phrase, and so we searched “Price List Readability” in the context of the Consumer Funeral Alliance, and lo and behold, the CFA has guidelines for what it suggests will make a price list legal and easy to use. The Funeral Director’s Guide is actually helpful to understand the consumer advocate’s criticism of common mistakes made by funeral providers. From the Guide, the funeral industry can anticipate the recommendations that the FCA will make.
Some of the Guide’s criticism is subjective, and not likely to be picked up by the FTC. However, examples of overreaching language that implicates statutory requirements could trigger some new form of restrictions by the Funeral Rule. The Guide is also helpful in showing what is lacking from a sample GPL.
We anticipate this to be one of those issues where the FTC will weigh the FCA’s recommendations and then propose a more definitive set of requirements that may be submitted to the public for comment. Funeral providers would be advised to give the Guide a review.