Death is expensive: Plan ahead for low-budget funeral arrangements

Been watching the Bill Moyers series "On Dying" on PBS this week? Squirming just a bit while pondering this taboo subject?

Uh-huh. Me, too.

"On Our Terms: Moyers on Dying: Living with Dying" concludes tonight from 9 to 10:30 on KCTS-TV.

One important end-of-life issue is the planning and cost of a funeral. The Senate Committee on Aging reports the average cost of a funeral, burial and monument now is about $7,520, according to a recent AARP Bulletin.

The National Funeral Directors Association's 1999 survey of its members showed an average price of $5,778.16, excluding cemetery charges.

That's not pocket change in most families. So it's important to think about what kind of funeral or memorial service you want and communicate in advance to family members so they do not have to grapple with what to do and how to pay for it when you die.

A Federal Trade Commission rule requires that funeral homes give prices over the phone and in person. The same rule does not apply to cemeteries, but the FTC is considering adding cemeteries.

Few consumers know they can get funeral price lists in advance. Even fewer actually research funeral costs before there's a death. So when a family member dies, they arrive at a funeral home without much knowledge. The family generally is too flustered and fatigued to be detail-minded. Someone signs on the dotted line, but may gasp at the bill, which usually has to be paid then and there.

For those of you who've been watching the Moyers series or who want to take end-of-life planning seriously, help is available.

People's Memorial Association has just completed a price survey of more than 40 funeral homes in Western Washington.

Comparing prices at the same funeral homes as in its 1998 survey, the association found:

-- The price of direct cremation is down an average of 10.3 percent.

-- The cost of direct burial with a graveside service is down an average of 1 percent.

-- Full mortuary service is up an average of 8.5 percent at 27 funeral homes. (Mortuary service includes embalming, cosmetology, use of a chapel, vehicles, staff time for viewing, a service and burial, but does not include a casket, a plot or other cemetery costs.)

PMA doesn't comment on why it believes prices are down for cremation. But statistics recently released by the state Department of Health give a clue, in my opinion.

Cremation was chosen for final disposition in 56 percent of deaths in Washington state last year.

"For the first time in a long time we're seeing more low-cost, low-overhead funeral operations opening up," said Lisa Carlson, executive director of the Funeral and Memorial Societies of America- Funeral Consumer Alliance, a national consumer federation.

In PMA's biennial surveys, which began in 1985, board members call funeral homes as ordinary consumers and request price lists.

Peggy Corley, PMA president, found it "very positive" that all funeral homes queried responded with information.

Free copies of the survey will be available next month. If you'd like a copy, send a stamped, self-addressed No. 10 envelope to People's Memorial Association Inc., 2366 Eastlake Ave. E., Room 409, Seattle WA 98102.

Membership in PMA, a nonprofit consumer cooperative, is a one-time $15 charge. That entitles members to low-cost services at Bleitz Funeral Home in Seattle and other related homes in Western Washington.

Additionally, PMA members have reciprocal rights for low-cost services through more than 120 affiliates in the U.S.

For more information, check PMA's Web site www.peoples memorial.org.

For more information on funerals check:

-- The funeral and cemetery unit in the Washington State Department of Licensing, P.O. Box 9012, Olympia 98507-9012. Phone 360-664-1555.

-- The Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20580; Call toll-free 877-FTC-HELP. Web site www.ftc.gov.

-- FAMSA, P.O. Box 10, Hinesburg, VT 05461; phone 800-765-0107. Web site www.funerals.org.

-- For a copy of the September-October AARP Bulletin, call 800-424-3410. AARP's Web site is www.aarp.org.

-- The National Funeral Directors Association, 13625 Bishop's Drive, Brookfield, WI 53005-6607. Web site www.nfda.org, phone 800-228-6332.

Shelby Gilje's Troubleshooter column appears Wednesday and Sunday in the Scene section of The Times. Got a consumer problem? Write to Times Troubleshooter, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Phone, 206-464-2262, fax 206-382-8873, or e-mail address, troubleshooter@seattletimes.com