Comprehensive Information on Death Care Complaints Was Not Available

Comprehensive information on consumer complaints that would indicate the overall nature and extent of problems that consumers experienced with various aspects of death care industries was not available for a number of reasons. One reason is that consumers can complain to a variety of organizations about death care issues and can complain to more than one organization about the same incident. Another reason is that no single organization or combination of organizations collects and compiles all complaints into one database. Also, each organization can have its own way of compiling and maintaining complaint information, which would confound efforts to compile and analyze aggregate complaint data. Although the organizations we contacted were able to provide some data, the number of complaints about death care was generally low compared to complaints about other categories of consumer issues. These conditions mean that the funeral consumer lacks much of the information and freedom of choice available in most other consumer transactions.”

	FTC’s Efforts to Promote Compliance Include Distributing Guidelines, Test- Shopping, and Working With Funeral Home Industry

Over the last 5 years, FTC has taken steps, including distributing compliance guides and working with the funeral home industry, to promote compliance with the Funeral Rule. FTC took these steps because it was concerned about what it perceived as a relatively low level of compliance. Despite Its Efforts, FTC Cannot Measure Industrywide Compliance With Funeral Rule

FTC maintains that compliance among providers covered by the Rule has increased “substantially” over the years. FTC’s efforts to measure compliance have been limited to narrowly scoped test-shopping sweeps in selected areas. We analyzed the available records of funeral homes FTC test-shopped in fiscal years 1997 and 1998. Our analysis indicated that among the limited sample of homes visited, compliance indeed was high for the Funeral Rule’s core requirement--giving consumers itemized price lists early in their meetings with funeral home staff--and somewhat lower for other elements of the Rule we reviewed. Selected States Varied in Their Approaches to Protecting Consumers Who Arrange Death Care

The five selected states differed in their approaches to protecting consumers who deal with funeral homes and cemeteries and make preneed arrangements. However, FTC cannot, with any reasonable assurance, report that there is high nationwide compliance with the Rule or a substantial increase in compliance compared to a decade ago, because FTC does not have a systematic or structured process for measuring funeral homes’ compliance so that overall conclusions can be drawn about their actual compliance with the Rule and the effectiveness of FTC’s enforcement strategies. FTC's Funeral Rule

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our objectives were to (1) describe the availability of information on the nature and extent of consumer complaints about the death care industry, (2) describe and assess the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) efforts to ensure compliance with its Funeral Rule, and (3) provide information on selected state governments’ roles in protecting consumers in their transactions with the death care industry. Trusting requirements are 100% for funeral goods and services.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined various issues involving consumers' dealings with funeral-related or death care industries, which include businesses that provide funeral and cemetery goods or services, focusing on: (1) the availability of information on the nature and extent of consumer complaints about death care industries; (2) the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) efforts to ensure compliance with its Funeral Rule; and (3) selected state governments' roles in protecting consumers in their death care transactions.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) comprehensive information on consumer complaints that would indicate the overall nature and extent of problems that consumers experienced with various aspects of death care industries was not available for a variety of reasons; (2) one reason is that consumers can complain to a variety of organizations about death care issues and can lodge the same complaint to more than one organization; (3) another reason is that no single organization or combination of organizations collects and compiles all complaints into one database; (4) also, each organization can have its own way of compiling and maintaining complaint information, which would confound efforts to compile and analyze aggregate complaint data; (5) although the organizations GAO contacted were able to provide some data, the number of complaints about death care was generally low compared to complaints about other categories of consumer issues; (6) FTC's Funeral Rule requires that funeral providers give consumers accurate, itemized price information and various other disclosures about funeral goods and services; (7) over the last 5 years, FTC has taken steps, including distributing compliance guides and working with the funeral home industry, to promote compliance with the Funeral Rule; (8) FTC took these steps because it was concerned about what it perceived as a relatively low level of compliance--about one-third--among funeral homes in the late 1980s; (9) FTC maintains that compliance among providers covered by the Rule has increased substantially over the years; (10) however, FTC does not have a systematic or structured process for measuring funeral homes' compliance so that overall conclusions can be drawn about their actual compliance with the Rule; (11) FTC's efforts to measure compliance have been limited to narrowly scoped test-shopping sweeps in selected areas; (12) GAO analyzed the available records of funeral homes FTC test-shopped in fiscal years 1997 and 1998; (13) GAO's analysis indicated that among the limited sample of homes visited, compliance indeed was high for the Funeral Rule's core requirement and somewhat lower for other elements of the Rule GAO reviewed; and (14) the five selected states differed in their approaches to protecting consumers who deal with funeral homes and cemeteries and make preneed arrangements.