Illinois and Missouri have more in common than they may realize. Consumers and funeral directors are blaming state regulators for their current preneed problems. Looking to avoid that hot seat, regulators have been stating their excuses/defenses. If legislators are to correct the flaws in their state’s preneed oversight, they need to put partisan politics aside
Reform
Lipstick on a pig: the Missouri Consumer Funeral Commission
By Bill Stalter on
It’s a fact that the NPS collapse threatens the viability of many Missouri funeral homes. It’s also a fact the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors had jurisdiction over NPS and did not shut the company down in time to prevent the current crisis. In a response, a group of the injured funeral…
Missouri’s Trusting War: SB1 vs. HB 853
By Bill Stalter on
Consumers and funeral directors are asking their state regulators how they let the National Prearranged Services collapse to happen. With the exception of Missouri and Iowa, the NPS preneed contract was generally an insurance-funded transaction, and state insurance regulators are taking most of the heat. It is a very different story in Missouri, as witnessed…
Restoring peace of mind: at the preneed provider’s expense.
By Bill Stalter on
John Duggan has a point, and that’s what concerns regulators in Illinois, Missouri and Texas. Who will be blamed when the consumer does not get the benefit of their preneed contract?
While the overwhelming majority of NPS’ preneed contracts will be honored by the funeral home named in the contract as the “provider”, it…
Lost in the translation: Missouri’s preneed exemption of cemeteries
By Bill Stalter on
The Missouri Legislature has reform of Chapter 436, the preneed funeral law, on the fast track. With the speed that Senate Bill 1 has been amended and perfected, it may be more appropriate to label this reform as being in the express lane. However, Missouri legislators must not lose track of the cemetery industry’s efforts…
Déjà vu: Missouri’s Latest Reform Effort
By Bill Stalter on
The Missouri Senate Committee assigned the task of preneed funeral reform posted a substitute bill to the Legislature’s website on February 6th: SCS SB1. For those who participated in the Chapter 436 Working Group meetings last summer, this bill may seem vaguely familiar. During those meetings, the Division of Professional Registration circulated a 41-page…
The long, winding road to reform: Michigan
By Bill Stalter on
Even when the need for reform is apparent to all, the legislative process can take years. With the Michigan Senate having approved a House substitute, that state’s cemeteries are a step closer to reform that could have avoided Clayton Smart’s pillaging of $70 million dollars of endowed care funds.
Chapter 436 Recommendations: First the trust, then…
By Bill Stalter on
Why did you agree to that?
That’s the question I have been getting to the Chapter 436 Working Group recommendations regarding i) the deposit of all purchaser payments to trust, and ii) some form of periodic statement to the consumer. One answer would be that we see too many news reports like this…
Missouri Preneed Reform: work in progress
By Bill Stalter on
While the completion of the document may have felt like a birthing process to the staff of Missouri’s Division of Professional Registration, the Chapter 436 Working Group Recommendations more accurately reflects an industry position paper that has yet to be completed. Faced with a deadline imposed by the Missouri legislature, the Division ‘finalized’ the Recommendations in an…
If that’s what is required to get your attention
By Bill Stalter on
In response to a proposal that preneed trustees be required to provide periodic account statements to contract purchasers, a funeral director asked what liability he would have to consumers who question the trust’s performance during a year such as 2008. Legally speaking: none. But ultimately, death care companies should be accountable to their families for the decisions…