Help
Protect Consumers!
There are currently two consumer protection issues
that need your help.
1. Help Protect Consumers in New York by having
us send a letter to the New York state legislators on your
behalf. We strongly oppose the proposed bill that would allow
the sale of package pricing of funerals in New York.
2.Help Protect Consumers in New York by having
us send a letter to the New York state legislators on your
behalf. We
strongly support the proposed bill which provides a Cemetery Customer’s Bill of Rights.
To have us send a letter on your behalf, fill in your name
and address at the bottom of this page and click 'Send Letter Now'.
Consumer Protection Issue #1, the following letter will be sent:
NYS Senators & Assembly Members
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248
OPPOSITION: A 8042 / S 05249:
Dear Senators and Assembly Members:
I strongly oppose A 8042 / S 05249. In all but a handful of states, families can file the death certificate signed by a physician, hold a funeral, and bury their dead without employing a funeral director. One reason that New York has an important responsibility for protecting families through stringent funeral home regulation is because of restrictions placed by the state on this practice. Any bill that weakens this protection is unfair to New York’s families. One important protection given to New York families is the requirement that they be offered a simple General Price List (GPL) itemizing the funeral home’s offerings of good and services when first discussing arrangement of a funeral. Only not-for-profit organizations, which are obligated to act in the interest of their members, are allowed to negotiate packages for their members; businesses, which are obligated to act in the interest of their stockholders, are denied this right. Currently, a grieving person can compare prices of items by telephoning a funeral home. How would they compare prices of packages that contain different goods and services?
Service Corporation of America, the death care industry giant, stated in their 2003 annual report: “On a burial funeral, Dignity packaged sales generate on average approximately $2,800 more than non-Dignity sales. On a cremation service, Dignity packaged sales generate approximately $1,700 more than non-Dignity sales.” Additionally, in the 2006 10 K Filing they reported another increase in average revenue per funeral service of $283 per funeral service and other increases were noted in the intervening years. Dignity packages contain pricey gimmicks such as a 24 hour Compassion Hotline, Internet Memorial Archive, Bereavement Travel Program, Aftercare Planner, and something mysterious called Signature Memories that raise profits, but are of little value to most consumers. Furthermore a spokesperson for the Federal Trade Commission has said that funeral homes can forbid substitution of items in funeral packages. While New York funeral homes would still offer an "itemized list," clever salesmen will be able to present that list in such an unfavorable light and make it appear so undesirable that seniors and other consumers can be shamed into selecting only from the high priced packages. SCI runs something called Dignity University for its employees.
The Health Department, not the CPB regulates funeral homes. Nevertheless, this bill would require a report from the CPB after one year evaluating the effectiveness of the changes to the law. This is a ploy to trick you into voting for this bill. In April of 2006, the Funeral Consumers Alliance of L.I./NYC made a Freedom of Information Law request for information about funeral home complaints to the Consumer Protection Board (CPB). Based on the information from the CPB, from February 2003 through August 8, 2006 the board received a mere 22 complaints. If this harmful bill becomes law, as the corporate death care giants well know, it will be extremely difficult to remove it.
Yours truly,
Consumer Protection Issue #2, the following
letter will be sent:
Assembly Members & Senators
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY
SUPPORT: A 7177/S 5492
Dear Assembly Members and Senators:
I strongly support passing this bill, which will amend the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law to provide for a Cemetery Customer’s Bill of Rights. Although the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule requires that important funeral consumer rights be included in the General Price List, which is to be offered in any face-to-face meeting of funeral director and consumer at the beginning of any discussion about arranging a funeral, there is no comparable federal or state requirement for disclosure by cemeteries.
Families need greater protection in the purchase of death care goods and services than New York law currently provides because the public lacks knowledge about funeral and cemetery issues. Often, families are dealing with cemeteries when they are suffering emotionally and under pressure to act quickly. Additionally, a right to interment may not be used for many years after purchase and may even pass to another generation in a family before it is used, adding to the likelihood that the family will not understand its rights. The death care industry closely resembles the insurance and banking industries in the need for the government to take a very active role in protecting customers.
The current law merely requires “posting” of rules and regulations and attachment of a copy to a contract at the time of a sale of interment rights. Families may not understand that the cemetery can refuse interment for nonpayment of the total bill, which may amount to thousands of dollars. Many families do not even understand that they are purchasing a right to burial rather than an actual piece of land. Similarly, they do not understand their rights when they wish to transfer or sell their right to interment. Nor do they understand other important matters; for example, that New York law does not limit the number of urns per grave, nor does the law require embalming or sealer caskets for mausoleum interment.
It is time to make this information easily available to families when they need it the most, which is at the time of purchase of interment rights or at the time they are interring a family member. I urge you to support this bill for a Cemetery Consumer’s Bill of Rights.
Yours truly,
*Your E-mail address will not be included on your
letter. We will use it to send a confirmation for your records.
