Funerals are outrageously expensive.

[moriah]

That's my lesson learned from the last 3 hours of making phone calls....

My father is entering hospice right now, he's been HIV+ since 1992 and they found what they believe to be an 8cm liver tumor. He was admitted to the hospital in very bad shape, almost completely incoherent. The few times he seemed lucid to the doctors he was saying he wanted to die and didn't want any treatment, but they couldn't go by that and didn't have his Living Will on file. He wasn't able to communicate how to get ahold of me -- I was actually located by Google.

The doctor said definitely less than three months with every treatment imaginable, and he thought we were looking more at weeks. I communicated his wishes -- absolutely no intervention and maximum comfort care, and made sure they were aware he was opiate-tolerant. They stopped drawing blood all the time to stabilize his electrolytes, put him on morphine, and today he came back to himself. (I wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason he was incoherent was pain!) He thanked me for saying exactly what he was trying to say. He'll be in the hospital until they can get a Medicaid bed open at a hospice.

So I'm trying to price cremation services. It looks like the absolute cheapest I can find is $900 with tax just for direct cremation, which is what he wants -- and that's still outrageous to me. Some places were saying their minimum charge was more than $2000!

Seriously, how overpriced is that industry? Does it really cost $2000 for a cremation?

[Gormy Cuss]

1. $900 is not a high price on a national basis.

It could be a little lower in some parts of the country and is higher in others. Many states require the services of a funeral director to do the necessary paperwork and coordinate the transport. That adds a cost but also save you a considerable amount of hassle. The cremation itself involves several steps to conform to regulations too and requires hours to complete the incineration. Have you looked for a memorial society? They tend to have the best prices.

I'm sorry about your father. It is so good that you were found and able to confirm his wishes for the hospital staff.

[rcrush]

2. Yes it is.

If you dont already have funeral insurance they will gouge the shit out of you. When my mom died the cheapest casket funeral would have cost $5000. I had to pay for a cremation but I had to go to a place all the way across town that had an office in a strip mall and it still cost me $900. Its a fucking racket.

I've seen the home of a man who owns a funeral parlor. He had at least 10 bedrooms all with at least 1 giant flat panel HDTV with stereo equipment everywhere.

[Deep13]

3. Yup. We didn't have one for my Dad or Grandma.

They were cremated at the hospital. We had a memorial service at Dad's Christmas tree farm for Grandma and later for my father. It was outdoors and was real. Their relatives and friends spoke. We received and spread the ashes later. It sucked, of course, but it was far better than any commercial or ecclesiastical wake or funeral I ever saw.