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INDUSTRY NEWS ICFA Opposes FL Hospice Application to Offer Funeral/Burial/Cremation Services This week, the ICFA filed comments with the Florida Board of Funeral, Cemetery and Consumer Services in opposition to the application of Hope Hospice of Southwest Florida to offer funeral services, including burials and cremation, to its clients and families. A new entity would be established by Hope Hospice, known as Hope Memorial Care, Inc. of Fort Myers, to provide the funeral-related services. In its comments, the ICFA states: "As far as we know, the application in question creates a case of first impression whereby a hospice desires to provide funeral-related services for its clients who, by definition, are terminally ill. The ICFA is extremely concerned over the adverse public policy consequences when end-of-life caregivers start recommending services unrelated to the personal care they normally provide, and the organization is compensated." The ICFA points out that this issue is analogous to the reasons why "many states have laws prohibiting funeral directors from recommending a cemetery to a family if compensation is received due to the referral. It's just a bad practice. The ICFA believes these same public policy considerations illustrate why funeral homes and cemeteries should not be allowed to own or operate hospitals, or why a doctor should not have a business interest in a funeral home or cemetery. To the best of our knowledge, hospices do not own pharmaceutical companies or sell medical supplies, nor should they. Few would disagree that such ancillary services could seriously compromise the integrity of the mission of hospice." The ICFA observed that "a similar type of conflict of interest controversy is raging in other states regarding the role of funeral homes involved in tissue recovery and harvesting. At the very least, additional regulation is needed but some maintain that mortuaries should not be involved in the process under any circumstances for the same reason present in this situation: bad public policy." The ICFA comments concluded by warning that a bad precedent would be set in Florida should the Hope Hospice application be approved: "Florida consumers should be protected against any organization taking advantage of them at the time of the death of a loved one." The full text of the ICFA comments can be viewed at the Association's web page at www.icfa.org/docs/hospice_letter.doc. ICFA NEWS KIP Entries Due Friday, December 8! All entries must be mailed to the ICFA by Friday, December 8, for eligibility in the 2006 Keeping it Personal Awards. This is your chance to earn recognition for you and your company and set yourself apart from the competition. ICFA's KIP Awards program was designed to recognize innovation and excellence in personalization in the cemetery and funeral service profession. If your company has a unique program or product that adds character and meaning for your families, we want to hear about it! Click here to download a registration form: http://www.icfa.org/pdf/kipform06.pdf. ICFA members are eligible for entry in the four categories: Most Personalized Service, Best Practice/Personal Touch, Innovative Personalized Product (for suppliers) and Special Events. Winners will be recognized at the ICFA 2007 Convention and Exposition, in ICFM magazine and on ICFA's Web Site. In addition, the ICFA will provide press releases for distribution to local press in your communities. This is a great way to get publicity for your company and contribute to the advancement of the cemetery, funeral service and memorialization profession. The grand prize winner will receive free registration to the 2007 Annual Convention & Exposition in Las Vegas, Nevada. Remember, the entry deadline is December 8, 2006. Visit www.icfa.org/kip.htm for details, or call Danielle at 1.800.645.7700. Treasure Island Room Reservation Deadline: December 12 Time is running out to obtain the early registration discount and to book your hotel room for the 2007 Wide World of Sales Conference, January 17-19, at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. You must reserve your room at Treasure Island by Tuesday, December 12! After that date, the ICFA cannot guarantee you the discounted room rate or that you will be able to secure a room. Treasure Island has reduced its prices exclusively for ICFA members to only $109 per night on the peak conference nights, Wednesday and Thursday, and $189 per night through the weekend. Located at the heart of the Vegas Strip, Treasure Island offers a health spa, tropical pool area, several restaurants and lounges and a shopping promenade. Visit their Website at http://www.treasureisland.com to learn more! To book your room, call 1.888.503.8999 and use Group Code ICFA07. ICFA members who submit their conference registration forms by December 12 can save up to $55 off the price. Or, send multiple staff and save even more—up to $60 additional off the early registration fee. For conference program information and to register, visit www.icfa.org/sales07.htm; or call 1.800.645.7700. Go Global With the ICFA at 2007 Convention & Exposition To be successful in today's global economy, it is important to increase your awareness of business practices, procedures and customs throughout North America and around the world. The ICFA will help you "expand your horizons" at the 2007 Convention & Exposition, March 20-23, at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Whether you are looking to appeal to families from other cultures, find products developed abroad or simply broaden your knowledge, this event has something to offer everyone. Find out more about cemetery and funeral practices worldwide by attending a two-hour symposium, featuring speakers from Europe, Asia and Australia. This distinguished panel of international speakers will talk about:
For the first time, Spanish-speaking attendees can take advantage of simultaneous English-to-Spanish interpretation for many of the general and breakout sessions. For a complete listing of the sessions available in Spanish, visit http://www.icfa.org/ac07_spanish.htm. The 2007 Convention & Exposition will feature more than 30 sessions on topics pertaining to cemetery and funeral service management, cremation, preneed sales, international funeral and burial customs, technology and more. To view the complete Convention program and to register, visit www.icfa.org/ac07.htm; or call 1.800.645.7700. Registration Forms Available for 2007 Music License Music Licenses for 2007 are now available to purchase online at http://www.icfa.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=RGMUS. Membership is open to any company in the cemetery and funeral service industry in the United States. Companies that held Music License Memberships in 2006 received invoices for renewal. Companies that wish to purchase a new membership may do so by visiting the Web Site or calling the ICFA at 1.800.645.7700. The Music License Membership fee covers music licensing with all three licensing agencies: BMI, ASCAP & SESAC, for the calendar year 2007. There are no added fees. For more information, visit http://www.icfa.org/music/, or call 1.800.645.7700. CLASSIFIED ADS Grow Your Business with FuneralHomes.com FuneralHomes.com—the Funeral Director's Resource for Effective Customer Acquisition. We connect At-need and Pre-planning consumers with Funeral Homes in their area, you are missing out on business! Position your Funeral Home at the top—Call us at 1.800.208.2580 to start receiving business today. www.FuneralHomes.com. New Opportunities Await You! People preplan for many reasons. Chief among them is peace of mind. Now you can offer your families additional peace of mind through the Omega Assured Return Plan, a service option offered through Inman Shipping Worldwide. Inman Shipping Worldwide has been the recognized leader in the deathcare industry for the repatriation of human remains, from anywhere in the world, for over 30 years. With society traveling more and more today for business, vacations and even health care in distant cities, death away from home is becoming more common. When death occurs 100 miles or more away from an individual's legal residence, all the necessary services for returning the deceased to their home are covered for those enrolled in the Omega Assured Return Plan. The Omega Assured Return Plan is the logical companion for cemetery, funeral and cremation prearrangements. An ideal supplemental product, the Omega Assured Return Plan provides another opportunity to maintain contact with your client families. A simple enrollment form and onetime payment will provide a lifetime of coverage for this valuable service. Expand your selling portfolio and earn generous commissions. No license is required. To find out how you or your company can offer the Omega Assured Return Plan, call our toll free number at 1-888-889-8508 from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM Eastern time Monday through Friday or send an email to omegareturninfo@yahoo.com. Reach Thousands of Cemeteries and Funeral Homes With Your Classified Ad!
And more ... For a limited time, ICFA members can purchase the McQuaig Job Survey, the McQuaig Word Survey and the McQuaig Self-Development Survey for just $100 per assessment, a savings of up to 50 percent off the regular price. The member discount offer expires December 31, 2006. Companies assessing more than 100 candidates per year are eligible for additional discounts. For additional information, visit http://www.icfa.org/pdf/mcquaig2.pdf and http://www.icfa.org/pdf/mcquaig.pdf. For questions and to sign up for the program, contact Michael Gravelle at The McQuaig Institute at 1.800.387.5455, ext. 361, or mgravelle@mcquaig.com. Join today! The 2007 Music Licenses are available for just $232, no additional fees. Covers ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Any U.S. funeral home, cemetery or related business is eligible for membership as a Music License Member. Join today! The ICFA Store allows members to purchase the latest ICFA resources and training products online. Some products are available for immediate direct download, including the newly released Wirthlin Report on consumer attitudes and article packages on cremation, cemetery and funeral home valuations and trust funds. The ICFA News Page takes you to sources throughout the world for industry news and updates. It brings you the most comprehensive selection of funeral service and cemetery news available anywhere, along with frequently updated general news items related to national and world events. The News Page reports the news before anyone else and is one of the most visited page on the ICFA Web site. Stop in each day and you'll see why. The Network is an online e-mail service that offers ICFA members an easy, free way to share questions and answers to everyday on-the-job challenges. Recent discussions have examined issues such as working with the Muslim community, distance between burial sites, direct mail marketing, the growing popularity of geocaching at cemeteries, recruiting staff and more. Ideal for smaller companies with smaller budgets. Join today! The ICFA Internet Expo is the largest online exposition in the cemetery and funeral service industry. Cemetery and funeral home owners and operators will find 300+ providers in more than 100 product and service categories. Exhibit space is provided as a free, exclusive benefit to all ICFA supplier and professional members. Check it out today! Need a labor relations and employment law attorney? Check out ICFA's HR Law Benefit program offering members no-cost telephone legal consultations, paid for by the ICFA via an exclusive retainer agreement. ICFA members now also have access to an attorney for tax-related questions regarding trust earnings, care fund allocations, capital gains, investments and more. The ICFA has retained Leslie Schneider, CPA, a tax attorney with Ivins, Phillips & Barker in Washington, D.C., for telephone consultations for up to 20 minutes with no obligation. To take advantage of this member benefit, call Schneider at 202.393.7600. The ICFA and Applied Merchant Systems of Chicago, Illinois, currently offer members a Credit Card Processing Program with a special low discount rate of 1.75 percent, with no per transaction processing fee. This new benefit makes it less expensive for cemeteries, funeral homes, memorial designers and related businesses to accommodate customers who wish to pay via credit card. For more information, call 1-800-675-6573. The ICFA Insurance Program, administered by Alliant Insurance Services, allows members to purchase commercial property and casualty insurance -- including general liability, commercial property, automobile liability and physical damage, umbrella liability, professional liability, workers compensation, employee benefits and more -- at rates they probably would not be able to afford on their own. To advertise in the ICFA Wireless: The ICFA accepts limited advertising in the ICFA Wireless newsletter, a bi-weekly newsletter e-mailed to all ICFA members that are current on their dues and have provided a current e-mail address. For rates and to place your insertion, contact Nichole Causey at ncausey@iccfa.com or 1.800.645.7700. To unsubscribe from the ICFA Wireless: Send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" in the subject line to: wireless@icfa.org. Please include your name and company name in the body of the e-mail. International Cemetery and Funeral Association 107 Carpenter Drive, Suite 100 Sterling, VA 20164 1.800.645.7700 703.391.8400 Fax: 703.391.8416 www.icfa.org Copyright 2006 International Cemetery and Funeral Association. |
