{"id":4124,"date":"2022-09-02T08:06:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T13:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/?post_type=press&#038;p=4124"},"modified":"2022-10-20T08:06:39","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T13:06:39","slug":"ceo-reggie-speaks-to-saving-money-on-funerals","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/ceo-reggie-speaks-to-saving-money-on-funerals\/","title":{"rendered":"CEO Reggie Speaks to Saving Money on Funerals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Montpelier, VT, September 2, 2022 &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/09\/02\/a-federal-program-pays-for-funerals-for-victims-of-covid-few-vermonters-are-using-it\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/09\/02\/a-federal-program-pays-for-funerals-for-victims-of-covid-few-vermonters-are-using-it\/\">VT Digger<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2020, the federal government has run a program to help ease the financial burden of those who have lost loved ones to Covid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fema.gov\/disaster\/coronavirus\/economic\/funeral-assistance\">&nbsp;up to $9,000<\/a>&nbsp;to cover the funeral costs of people who have died because of the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But data shows that few Vermonters who would qualify for the grant have actually applied for or received it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c&#8217;I&#8217;ve been trying to bang the gong on this because it&#8217;s amazing that it&#8217;s under utilized,\u201d said Ed Michael Reggie, CEO of Funeralocity, a funeral cost tracking website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vermont has reported 707 Covid deaths as of Wednesday, according to the health department. But only 236 people have actually applied for a grant, and 190 have received one. That\u2019s about a third of victims\u2019 families that have applied \u2014 lower than the national average of about half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sources in the funeral industry cited different reasons as to why uptake has been so low, from the hassle of applying to certain issues that could disqualify an applicant. But all agreed that there should be more awareness of the program.<\/p>\r\n    <div class=\"single-content-banner\">\r\n                                    <div class=\"single-content-banner__shortcode\">\r\n                            <div class=\"input-search-wrapper input-search-wrapper--bottom\">\r\n            <h2 class=\"title-search\">See funeral home prices in your area<\/h2>\r\n            <div class=\"input-search search-home\">\r\n                <input placeholder=\"Enter your City or ZIP Code\" type=\"search\" class=\"addressMain\">\r\n                <button type=\"submit\" class=\"blue-button\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/funeralocity\/dist\/images\/icons\/search-button.svg\">Search\r\n                <\/button>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            <span class=\"small-text\">Use zip code for more precise search results<\/span>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n                    <\/div>\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll we can really do is do our level best to make sure the word is getting out there to people who might be qualified for the benefit,\u201d said Ben Rose, a Covid response chief at Vermont Emergency Management. The Vermont agency does not administer the program but receives regular updates on it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Families must perform the service under the direction of a funeral home in order to qualify, Reggie said. There\u2019s no time limit: you can apply for a grant for a funeral as far back as January 2020 if you have documentation. Nationwide, around 92% of applicants are successful, according to FEMA.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FEMA officials said they\u2019ve taken many steps to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fema.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/fema_covid-funeral-assistance-program-toolkit.pdf\">reach out<\/a>&nbsp;to people who may qualify for the reimbursement. Becky Szymcik, individual assistance chief for the agency in New England, listed nine different local partners it has briefed about the program \u2014 particularly targeting funeral directors, religious leaders and other community organizations that work with recently bereaved families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The program also makes translators available for dozens of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NGaWq_Hg87I\">different languages<\/a>&nbsp;and provides&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7-olWbPiJMo\">options<\/a>&nbsp;for deaf and hard-of-hearing applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adam Goss, the head of the Vermont Funeral Directors\u2019 Association, said funeral directors he knows of have been informing families about the program if they qualified. But few people he\u2019s told were aware of the option before that conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Goss, who runs a funeral home in Swanton, said that some have complained about the application process, which requires both a phone call and an online form to upload documentation.&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n    <div class=\"single-content-banner\">\r\n                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/funeralocity.com\/average-funeral-price\" class=\"single-content-banner__image\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"desktop\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_1_desktop.png\" alt=\"Compare the cost of funerals in your city\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"tablet\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_1_tablet.png\" alt=\"Compare the cost of funerals in your city\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mobile\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_1_mobile.png\" alt=\"Compare the cost of funerals in your city\">\r\n                <\/a>\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou had to phone FEMA, which meant, sometimes, a wait on the phone of up to an hour before you could speak with somebody. And I think that kind of discouraged a lot of families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Reggie disagreed with Goss\u2019 assessment: He said the long hold times were only at the beginning of the pandemic. \u201cThere&#8217;s no means-testing. It is an easy application process,\u201d and \u201can enormously high percentage of people get approved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s an amazing thing that people are just not applying, and the reason I think it hasn&#8217;t been used is I think people still don&#8217;t know about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chelsey Smith, director of the program for the New England region, said that one major reason may disqualify some potential recipients: \u201cFEMA cannot duplicate benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is, people who have prepaid their funeral or received other types of funeral assistance, such as public benefits, would not get reimbursed for those expenses, she said. A life insurance payment for costs is not disqualifying, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prepaid funerals tend to be more common with older people, she said, which could explain Vermont\u2019s lower-than-average uptake of the program. About 85% of deaths in Vermont have been among people 65 and older, compared to 75% for the country as a whole, according to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/nvss\/vsrr\/covid_weekly\/index.htm\">federal data<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n    <div class=\"single-content-banner\">\r\n                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/funeralocity.com\/cremationclub\" class=\"single-content-banner__image\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"desktop\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_2_desktop.png\" alt=\"Advanced directive planning - for peace of mind\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"tablet\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_2_tablet.png\" alt=\"Advanced directive planning - for peace of mind\">\r\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mobile\" src=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Banner_2_mobile.png\" alt=\"Advanced directive planning - for peace of mind\">\r\n                <\/a>\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n\n\n\n\n<p>Reggie was critical of the agency\u2019s decision to exclude prepaid funerals. \u201cThese people responsibly prepaid their funerals, and it&#8217;s so unfair in a way that they don&#8217;t get any recompense at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The average cost of a funeral in Vermont varies from $2,295 for a barebones direct cremation to $7,207 for a traditional full service burial, according to Reggie\u2019s website,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/\">Funeralocity<\/a>, which allows people to compare their local options. That makes it one of the most expensive purchases in a person\u2019s life, just below a car, a wedding or a college degree, Reggie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the people who have taken advantage of the program, Reggie said it could allow them to opt for a more expensive service than they would otherwise be able to afford \u2014 or even multiple services.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;ve been to two funerals for the same person: one of those was in the middle of Covid, where there were six of us there, and then a full military burial\u201d later on, he said. The family put together the receipts for both and sent them to FEMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rose said that the state and FEMA itself has tried to spread the word about the program via social media. He also hopes more media attention to the low rate could itself draw people in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s an interesting head scratcher of a story,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-4124","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"location":{"state":"VT","city":"Montpelier"},"section_type":"in_the_news","news_content_type":"inner_post","news_image":"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/VT-Digger-1-1.png","full_width_image":false,"show_on_page":[],"popularity":"0"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.7 (Yoast SEO v17.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>CEO Reggie Speaks to Saving Money on Funerals - Knowledge Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.funeralocity.com\/blog\/media-center\/ceo-reggie-speaks-to-saving-money-on-funerals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CEO Reggie Speaks to Saving Money on Funerals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Montpelier, VT, September 2, 2022 &#8211; VT Digger Since 2020, the federal government has run a program to help ease the financial burden of those who have lost loved ones to Covid. 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