Overture Films and Paramount Vantage Set Release of New Film by Michael Moore
Oscar-winning filmmaker to explore ‘the wonders of capitalism’
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 21 /PRNewswire/ — Overture Films and Paramount Vantage have announced that Oscar-winner Michael Moore’s new documentary feature will be released domestically on October 2, 2009. The as-yet-untitled film will explore the root causes of the global economic meltdown and take a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore has described as “the biggest robbery in the history of this country” – the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions.
On this, the 20-year anniversary of his masterpiece Roger & Me, Moore returns to the issue that began his career: the disastrous impact that corporate dominance and out-of-control profit motives have on the lives of Americans and citizens of the world. But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan.
Says Moore: “The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn’t have enough wealth. They wanted more — a lot more. So they systematically set about to fleece the American people out of their hard-earned money. Now, why would they do this? That is what I seek to discover in this movie.”
Moore’s new documentary, his first since 2007’s widely-praised Sicko, was first announced by Overture and Paramount Vantage International in May 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival and production began shortly afterward.
Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett, Overture’s CEO and COO respectively, previously worked with Moore when they oversaw the release of Bowling for Columbine at MGM/United Artists.
“Everyone can relate to this subject matter and all have been affected,” said McGurk and Rosett. “We think there should be plenty of people interested in hearing Michael’s take on how exactly we got here and what we can do to move forward.”
John Lesher, President of Paramount Film Group, added, “Michael is a master at capturing the most timely and critical issues shaping our world today. His unique, thought-provoking method of filmmaking is sure to bring dynamic insights into the state of the global economy that will have mass appeal to audiences worldwide.”
The release date is a year and a day after the United States Senate voted to hand Wall Street a $700 billion bailout.
Moore has made three of the top six highest-grossing documentaries of all time including Cannes Palme d’Or winner Fahrenheit 9/11, 2008 Academy Award(R) nominee Sicko, and Bowling for Columbine, the Academy Award(R) winner for Best Documentary in 2003. His debut film was 1989’s groundbreaking Roger and Me. Moore also created the Emmy-winning TV show, “TV Nation,” and the Emmy-nominated show, “The Awful Truth,” both of which featured his trademark style of presenting serious documentaries in humorous and engaging ways.
ABOUT OVERTURE FILMS
Overture Films (www.overturefilms.net) develops, produces, acquires, and distributes feature length, theatrical motion pictures worldwide. The studio is a wholly owned unit of Starz Media, a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group. Its affiliated companies, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Starz Entertainment, make the films available domestically to viewers via home video, premium television, Internet and other outlets.
About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company’s labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.
SOURCE Overture Films
GM Bondholders Unite Invites Individual GM Bondholders to Fight for Their Legal Rights
SAN DIEGO, May 30 /PRNewswire/ — Regardless of the outcome of the General Motors and the government’s “offer” to GM bondholders, GM Bondholders Unite (www.gmbondholdersunite.com) says that its members are more committed than ever to stand up for their legal rights. Bondholders are not asking for a handout or a bailout; GM’s bondholders just want a fair and equitable deal.
With few details and extremely limited public information necessary for making an informed decision, GM bondholders were given an arbitrary deadline of 5 PM (EDT) today to make an extraordinarily important financial decision: whether to accept or reject the exchange offer.
Individual investors helped build GM and this country. However individual investors have been systematically excluded from the negotiating table in the restructuring of one of America’s storied icons.
As announced yesterday, Thomas E. Lauria, Esq., the attorney who represented the rights of dissident bondholder in the Chrysler Chapter 11 filing, has agreed to work with GM Bondholders Unite in representing the thousands of individual GM bondholders who have been systematically excluded from the negotiating table.
Mr. Lauria heads the financial restructuring and insolvency group at White & Case, one of the nation’s top law firms. He has led efforts to restructure more than $100 billion of debt in some of the largest and most complex restructurings in history.
Thousands of small bondholders — many of them retirees — rely on their investments to meet day-to-day expenses and could face economic ruin.
We encourage all individual GM bondholders to join us in giving voice to their legitimate claims by visiting our web page at www.gmbondholdersunite.com and signing up.
GM Bondholders Unite is a group of small and large holders of General Motors debt determined to protect its members’ legal rights. It is a non-partisan, non-ideological coalition of investors fearful that current proposals will wipe out the hard-earned savings of tens of thousands of people who made what they thought were conservative investments in a storied American brand.
For more information, go to: www.gmbondholdersunite.com
SOURCE GM Bondholders Unite
The Latest GM ‘Offer’ Discriminates Against Individual Bondholders, Says GM Bondholders Unite (GMBHU)
SAN DIEGO, May 28 /PRNewswire/ — “The latest GM ‘offer’ sends a chilling message to all individual bondholders, not just those, like us, holding GM bonds: contracts in America are no longer worth the paper they are written on,” said GM Bondholders Unite (www.gmbondholdersunite.com), a grassroots organization representing individual GM bondholders across the country.
The “offer” to individual GM bond investors is ridiculously lopsided because it arbitrarily favors other groups, at the expense of the legal rights, under the U.S. Constitution, of hundreds of thousands of individual GM bond investors.
Bonds are popular “conservative” investments because of the protections outlined in their covenants, which show where bondholders stand in the event of a restructuring or bankruptcy. In return for this security — as outlined in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and protected by the U.S. Constitution — bond investors agree to receive a lower rate of return than they would have otherwise.
The biggest buyers of bonds — individually, or through mutual funds and pensions — are the elderly, the retired and families saving to buy a house or send their kids to college. The latest “offer” tramples upon the rights of all of these people.
We aren’t asking for a bailout or a handout, just a fair deal. So we have no plans to back down.
What’s more, the long-term implications of this “offer” are far greater than the life savings, retirement funds and quality of life we are already likely to lose. By choosing who gets paid more and who gets paid less, instead of adhering to bond covenants and the bankruptcy code, our leaders have chosen the arbitrary rule of man over the established rule of law, a dangerously slippery slope.
We invite all GM bondholders to speak up and be heard by posting a webcam video of how you feel about this end-run around your rights and the law to www.youtube.com with “GMBHU” in the subject line. Send the link (URL) to your video to gm.bondholders.unite@gmail.com, so that we can post your rant to our page (www.gmbondholdersunite.com) and ensure that those responsible for this travesty know exactly how you feel.
www.gmbondholdersunite.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/GMBondholdersUnite
Media Inquiries: gm.bondholders.unite@gmail.com
Leading Professionals Gather at Annual Life Spring Meeting Hosted by Society of Actuaries
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., May 26 /PRNewswire/ — With record declines, financial bailouts and equity volatility reaching new highs, it is not surprising that there is a nationwide loss of confidence in the economy. Actuaries and other professionals convened May 18th and 19th in Denver to address making an impact on the financial future and throughout the global markets during a recession.
Sponsored by the Society of Actuaries (SOA), the 2009 Life Spring Meeting’s highlights included sessions on recovering and moving forward during a weak economy, thriving in a chaotic economy, gearing up for prosperity and learning about current industry studies, financial models and new regulatory developments.
“Today’s economic challenges present opportunities for actuaries to position themselves as experts in managing risk with the unique ability to offer real-world solutions to complex problems,” explained Juliet Sandrowicz, chairperson of the Life Spring Meeting and Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.
Additional conference highlights included general sessions, concurrent session tracks, an exhibit area for meeting attendees and networking with fellow practitioners.
The SOA is an educational, research and professional organization dedicated to serving the public and its 20,000 members. The SOA’s vision is for actuaries to be recognized as the leading professionals in the modeling and management of financial risk. The SOA’s mission is to advance actuarial knowledge and to enhance the ability of actuaries to provide expert advice and relevant solutions for financial, business and societal problems involving uncertain future events.
To learn more, visit the SOA’s Web site at www.soa.org.
SOURCE Society of Actuaries
Out-of-Work Poker Players Create ‘Crooked Deal’ Playing Cards for Laughs During Grim Recession
- New Deck of Cards Fingers Big Shots Who Gambled Away the American Economy -
CHICAGO, May 26 /PRNewswire/ — Watch your back, Senator Phil Gramm! Heads up, Congressman Barney Frank! Better duck, George Bush! You’re about to be decked! A friendly poker game turned into a shouting match over who’s responsible for the current economic meltdown. The result is a new deck of cards called “Crooked Deal,” which names names and assigns numbers. Poker players Tommy Littell, Mike Bugera, C.J. Maynard and Mark Sickman have listed the culprits from “Ace of Spades” Uncle Sam all the way down to “Joker” May DeFault, an unqualified loan applicant.
Along the way they take sarcastic shots at fifty-one additional bankers, bureaucrats, congressman and crooks who ruined the economy by creating, selling, legitimizing or encouraging high-risk securities.
“Creating the cards was a great way to blow off steam,” says video technician Bugera, whose retirement fund was devastated by the meltdown. “I get a certain rush of energy every time I slap a Christopher Dodd card on to the table,” claims Maynard. “This guy helped wipe out my investments!”
The four players were in general agreement over the fifty-four names, but argued for days over the descriptions on each of the cards. They finally settled on the captions. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is described as the “White House tough guy who took aim at Saddam Hussein, but was afraid to tackle Fannie Mae.” Economist Larry Summers is described as “the Prince of Panhandlers” who took millions from bankers, taxpayers and universities. Even Sarah Palin has a card–the two of hearts. The caption reads: “The economic meltdown is all her fault because … well … everything is all her fault.”
“The whole thing is a catastrophe,” says Littell, an HVAC contractor who fumes at the bailouts and stimulus programs while his own business has been cut in half during the recession. “We’re trying to laugh our way through it.”
The deck of cards is available for purchase at CrookedDeal.com. A video on the new product, entitled “Out-of-Work Poker Players,” can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMEpWYbHOfs.
Media inquiries: Mark Sickman (619) 972-5663
SOURCE CrookedDeal.com
Carnegie Corporation Taps Center on Communication Leadership and Policy for Examination of Government’s Response to the Crisis in the News Industry
LOS ANGELES, May 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — From a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on the future of journalism to a new tax cut for newspapers signed into law by the governor of Washington state, policymakers nationwide are responding to the crisis facing the news business.
“It’s…a time of real hardship for the field of journalism…But it’s also true that your ultimate success as an industry is essential to the success of our democracy,” President Obama told members of the White House Correspondents’ Association.
Thanks to a grant from the Carnegie Corporation, the USC Annenberg School for Communication’s Center on Communication Leadership and Policy (CCLP) is launching a major new research project to document current and past government engagement in the news industry and assess new policy proposals.
USC Annenberg dean emeritus and CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan is the principal investigator on the project. The research team, which includes doctoral students in economics and communication, is led by CCLP senior fellow David Westphal, former Washington editor for McClatchy Newspapers.
The project will examine a broad range of policy areas, including postal rates, tax policy, antitrust regulation, broadcast and cable regulation, and direct government support.
“Although a banking-style bailout would be rejected out of hand by those concerned with maintaining a free and independent press, there are other possibilities,” Cowan wrote in a recent op-ed co-authored with USC Annenberg journalism school director Geneva Overholser. “Since the start of the republic, the government has found creative ways to support the press.”
Initial research findings will be presented at the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in August. A Washington, DC briefing for policymakers is planned for Fall 2009.
About the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy
Based at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy (www.communicationleadership.org) conducts research and organizes courses, programs, seminars and symposia for scholars, students, policymakers and working professionals to prepare future leaders in journalism, communication and other related fields.
SOURCE Center on Communication Leadership and Policy
“Small Cap” doesn’t mean Small Returns for Investors
MIAMI, FL, May 26 /PRNewswire/ – Today’s Trade Alerts include: Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), Map Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: MAPP), Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL).
The economic news today is grim; bank failures, foreclosures, and government bailouts… What’s a responsible investor to do? http://www.pennypic.com
Here at Pennypic.com, we would like to say that it’s time to Think Small for Big Returns! Micro Cap, pink sheets and OTC stocks provide an informed investor with opportunity that the general market can’t provide right now. http://www.pennypic.com
Remember those “Safe” stocks for Grandma’s portfolio? GM, CitiCorp, B of A come to mind. Well, we all know that “Too big to fail” really means “Too big to be allowed to fail” and there’s a fine distinction there. The company may not have failed, but the investments surely have. It will take years to recoup the investments in these sure things. It’s time for the shareholders to get a return. http://www.pennypic.com
Small business is the heart of the US economy, and has always lead the way with innovation and tenacity. With the right information, you can capitalize on small cap stocks and get your portfolio returns moving again. Pennypic.com can provide you with the best and most up-to-date information on micro-cap stock plays. Don’t earn 2% on your funds in a savings account, come and find out what penny stocks are all about. http://www.pennypic.com
PennyPic.com’s Investment Stock Report covers and analyzes active stocks that are typically overlooked by the markets. PennyPic.com provides small investors with authoritative research on potentially huge movers in the micro-cap sector, and delivers that information before the rest of the market has noticed those stocks.
In addition to investment information, PennyPic’s FREE report is filled with daily trading ideas. Interested investors may receive the free report by visiting: http://www.pennypic.com
PennyPic.com Disclosure PennyPic.com is not a registered investment advisor and nothing contained in any materials should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. PennyPic.com is a wholly owned entity of, a financial public relations firm. Please read our report and visit our website, PennyPic.com, for complete risks and disclosures.
Christopher Lim of Pennypic.com is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, CRD number 2124654.
SOURCE PennyPic.com
Catastrophe Experts Praise Introduction of National Backstop
Call Homeowners’ Defense Act of 2009 a critical first step in protecting American families
WASHINGTON, May 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The nation’s leading coalition of first responders, catastrophe experts, insurers and private citizens dedicated to improving the ways that America is prepared for and protected from massive natural catastrophes today praised the introduction by Florida Rep. Ron Klein (D- FL-22) of the Homeowners’ Defense Act of 2009 and urged quick enactment of the bill.
“This bill takes meaningful and important steps toward improving America’s system of dealing with natural catastrophes. The bill will improve mitigation and land use policies, strengthen first responder programs and provide a fiscally responsible way for our nation to prepare for the event of a truly massive natural catastrophe,” said James Lee Witt, former FEMA Director and a co-chair of ProtectingAmerica.org.
“The 2009 Hurricane season begins June 1 and it is my hope that immediate action will be taken before the peak storm activity in the fall,” he said.
The Homeowners’ Defense Act of 2009 builds upon legislation passed by the House of Representatives in 2007 and sets up financial mechanisms to provide a backstop for privately funded state catastrophe funds to assure that families are able to get insurance and can rebuild, repair and recover in the aftermath of a devastating natural catastrophe like a massive hurricane or vast earthquake.
The previous bill, the Homeowner’s Defense Act of 2007 (HR 3355), passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 258-155. The bill was sponsored by Florida Reps. Ron Klein (D), Tim Mahoney (D), Ginny Brown-Waite (R) and nearly four dozen cosponsors from around the country.
According to Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the nation’s foremost authority on catastrophic risk, fully 57 percent of the American population currently lives in areas that are prone to natural catastrophes. Recent experiences prove that no region is immune from the threat of catastrophes, and when major catastrophes strike, such as Katrina, everyone, everywhere is affected. Populations living along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are directly exposed to hurricanes while major cities throughout the Midwest and all along the West coast are located on fault lines that are prone to earthquakes.
“The stakes are higher than ever, particularly in the current economy. But the good news is that there is a better way, by beginning now to build a privately funded backstop rather than needing to rely on another taxpayer funded bailout,” said Admiral James M. Loy, a co-chair of Protecting America who former served as Commandant of the US Coast Guard and was Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security.
“President Obama, as a candidate, was unequivocal in his support for the Homeowners’ Defense Act. The leadership in the House and the bipartisan support among the nation’s governors provides our members with encouragement that a comprehensive catastrophe preparation and protection plan could be a reality in the coming months,” he added.
In September of 2008, President Obama wrote in an opinion editorial in the St. Petersburg (Fl) Times:
“I strongly support the Homeowners’ Defense Act. It would stabilize skyrocketing insurance rates and provide a common-sense federal backstop in the event of a major natural disaster. I’ve long been a supporter of a National Catastrophic Insurance plan, and the time to act is now, before another disaster strikes…
“Hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, fires and earthquakes can happen anywhere. And when a risk is so large that the insurance market and individual states can’t reasonably bear it, it’s the role of the federal government to step in, as we’ve done to insure against acts of terrorism. Because when a catastrophe strikes, we all look out for one another. That’s why I am proud to add my name to this bill, and that’s why I’ll sign it into law as president.”
About ProtectingAmerica.org
ProtectingAmerica.org is a non-profit organization consisting of emergency management officials, first responders, disaster relief experts, insurers and others. Its members include more than 300 organizations and businesses and more than 20,000 individuals from across the nation.
At the core of ProtectingAmerica.org’s mission is the establishment of a comprehensive, integrated national catastrophe management solution that will better prepare and protect American families, communities, consumers and the American economy from catastrophe. Among its efforts to support this mission, ProtectingAmerica.org is working to increase public awareness and consumer education; advocate for better coordination with local, state and federal mitigation and recovery efforts, and strengthen emergency response and financial mechanisms to rebuild after a major catastrophe.
ProtectingAmerica.org was formed in 2005.
For info: www.ProtectingAmerica.org
SOURCE ProtectingAmerica.org
Shareholders: Washington Mutual Inc. Shareholders Alarmed by Dangerous Actions Repeated by Regulators in Resolving BankUnited Financial Problems
ANDERSON ISLAND, Wash., May 26 /PRNewswire/ — The following is being issued on behalf of WaMuStory.com, Concerned Shareholders of Washington Mutual Inc. — Washington Mutual Inc. shareholders are increasingly alarmed by the actions of federal regulators in recent months. They feel the regulators are setting dangerous precedents that will adversely affect the banking sector in the foreseeable future. They feel these actions do not just affect individual shareholders, but the financial sector in general.
The FDIC’s fire-sale of Washington Mutual Inc.’s (OTC Bulletin Board: WAMUQ) (Pink Sheets: WAHUQ, WAMPQ, WAMKQ) assets to JPMorgan changed the game for potential buyers of banks. The new rule seems to be: “Get regulators to place the bank into receivership in order to buy the assets at a fire-sale price.”
It appears that bidders for BankUnited Financial Corp. planned to do just that. They recently asked regulators to place the bank into receivership and now the regulators have complied. Regulators have set a dangerous precedent in this action.
Bidders for BankUnited Financial Corp waited on the side lines, hoping for the new form of behind the scenes bailout being offered by the FDIC–assets on the cheap. This has the potential to leave bondholders and shareholders out in the cold, just as was done with Washington Mutual Bank.
Prior to the FDIC’s takeover of Washington Mutual, banks would attempt to sell themselves to prospective buyers at or near face value, attempting to get the most for their assets, their shareholders and creditors. Now, having seen the sweet deal JPMorgan Chase received when it bought Washington Mutual’s assets for a fraction of their worth, bidders apparently prefer not to deal directly with banks anymore.
This new approach is a much better deal for acquiring banks and private equity investors, and a losing proposition for shareholders. It has been noted widely, that banks need to increase investments from shareholders in order to raise money, but that is not going to happen as long as banks can be whisked away from shareholders, leaving them out in the cold.
A new Wall Street motto has been coined: “Remember The WAMU.” The sale of WAMU bank, for pennies on the dollar, stunned investors, and has kept them from returning to stocks in the financial sector, especially as new laws are currently underway to increase the authority of the FDIC to seize holding companies as well.
Changing the rules of the game doesn’t appear to have been the FDIC’s intention when it sold Washington Mutual for a pittance, but bidders are getting wise and are taking advantage of the way the “new” game is played. This does not bode well for banks, their shareholders or their creditors. Nor does it bode well for the taxpayers who get to pick up the tab once again. The money that is so badly needed by banks, to shore up their losses, is not going to come in the form of stock investments any time soon. That will leave the FDIC to pick up the pieces over and over and over.
SOURCE WaMuStory.com
Rarely Used Closed Doors Slammed Again in U.S. Senate Health Care Reform; Sen. Max Baucus Must Publicly Answer 10 Questions About Mandatory Purchase of Health Insurance
WASHINGTON, May 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — For the second time in two weeks, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee today invoked rules — allowing a closed door committee session barring the public, media and with no Congressional Record — reserved for unusual circumstances, like national security issues and trade secrets.
Consumer Watchdog called on the committee to publicly answer ten questions about how its plan to require all Americans to show proof of insurance or face tax penalties will provide affordable health care. Questions listed below.
Download Consumer Watchdog’s letter to Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Finance Committee, sent prior to last week’s closed meeting here: http://www.ConsumerWatchdog.org/resources/BaucusClosedMeeting.pdf
In the letter to Senator Baucus, Consumer Watchdog wrote:
“Americans should not be locked out of any discussion about health care reform, particularly one that will consider whether everyone should be required to buy health insurance policies without any limits on what insurers can charge. Mandatory purchases of private insurance policies without offering a public alternative to the private market is nothing other than a bailout for HMOs — whose greed, waste and indifference to our health have created the current mess.
“There’s no mention of cost-cutting in the Senate Finance Committee’s ‘policy options’ document being discussed in today’s closed meeting — no regulation of HMO premiums, no limits on how much consumers will have to pay out of their own pocket in co-pays or deductibles.”
Last week the Senate Finance Committee circulated a “policy options” white paper to be discussed in today’s meeting, which excludes members of the media and public. The senate finance document makes the president’s promised “public option” to the private insurance market optional, and does not include cost controls.
Senator Max Baucus has received more campaign contributions from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries than any other current Democratic member of the House or Senate; the third highest contributions of any member of Congress.
Consumer Watchdog posed the following 10 questions to Senator Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee, and members of Congress about the affordability of the mandatory purchase of insurance policies:
1. Senate rules appear to only allow committees to meet in closed session under very limited circumstances, including discussions concerning national defense and protection of trade secrets, none of which appear to apply to today’s meeting. What Senate rule justifies today’s closed-door committee meeting?
2. Why have you offered such deference to the top lobbyists of the insurance industry, which bears a large share of the responsibility for the current health care crisis, while locking consumers and consumer advocates out of the debate?
3. The only guaranteed provision in the “policy options” report is that every American would have to file proof of an insurance policy with their tax returns on April 15, 2013 or face tax penalties. How does threatening Americans with tax penalties lead to affordable health care?
4. If there are no limits on how much an insurance company can charge for the coverage that Americans will be required to buy, how can you promise that it will be affordable?
5. Your policy options do not adequately protect Americans against low-benefit, junk insurance that fails to provide access to necessary benefits and does not limit out-of-pocket expenses (co-pays and deductibles) when patients get sick. How does “owning” an insurance policy under these circumstances equal being able to get health care?
6. There are documented cases of insured people facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills. Without a cap on out-of-pocket expenses, how can you prevent this?
7. Your report says that, with few exceptions, hefty tax penalties will be levied against Americans that don’t either purchase coverage or get it through their job. Is it true that only Christian Scientists would avoid tax penalties without having to prove their income?
8. One of the options that the committee is considering is to not require any employers to chip in for health insurance. Why isn’t the committee considering an option where Americans would not be forced to buy coverage?
9. Your plan focuses on “wellness” services. But if patients face a $5000 deductible how will they pay for treatment for severe obesity, diabetes prevention, or even effective smoking cessation?
10. Your plan does not clearly protect state laws providing access to necessary health care services like a California woman’s right to visit an OB-GYN, a New Jersey child’s access to a Hepatitis B inoculation, a Tennessee patient’s coverage for diabetes treatment, and other benefits including screenings for cervical and prostate cancers. Will states be allowed to require additional health benefits beyond those required under federal rules, or will federal rules pre-empt more expansive state benefits?
** Read Consumer Watchdog’s letter to President Obama and Sens. Kennedy and Baucus warning them not to agree to agree to the health insurers’ plan to gut state health care laws. http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=27228
** Read Consumer Watchdog’s letter to U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) urging that he continue to protect patients consistent with the principles he has articulated during his 40 year career. http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=26398
** Read Consumer Watchdog’s analysis of health insurer and drug company contributions to members of Congress. http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=25468
** Read about a recent national poll that found that 65% of voters support giving every American of any age the option of joining Medicare; 60% are willing to pay more in payroll deductions for this option. http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=24826
** Read about a national poll that found, by contrast, that only 16% of U.S. voters support, and 53% oppose, the insurance industries’ plan of requiring every American to provide proof of private health insurance or face tax penalties or other fines. http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=24110
Consumer Watchdog is a non-profit and non-partisan consumer advocacy organization with offices in Washington, D.C. and Santa Monica, California. For more information, visit us on the web at: http://www.ConsumerWatchdog.org
SOURCE Consumer Watchdog
