2008 AARP Voters Guide

Transcription

1 2008 AARP Voters Guide Montana Attorney General & State Auditor How to use the AARPVoters Guide: Here s how this Voters Guide works. AARP asked key questions about issues important to our members and their families of each major candidate for this race. Each candidate was allowed up to 125 words to answer each question. AARP did not edit or modify those answers. The candidates were asked to check the support or oppose circles. The candidates may have chosen not to check a circle. Inside: Financial Fraud 2 Background Checks 3 Payday Loans 4 Health Insurance Benefits 5 Health Insurance Small Businesses 6 Consumer Information 7 AARP has provided a summary of our position for each of the issues. Pass this guide on to friends and family. Share your views with the candidates. whose answer seems unclear. Be sure to vote on November 4. elect ions

2 Attorney General Financial Fraud As Attorney General, what will you do to protect older Montanans from financial fraud? Tim Fox (R): Steve Bullock (D): More needs to be done to protect older Montanans from financial fraud. More needs to be done to protect older Montanans from financial fraud. More needs to be done to protect older Montanans from financial fraud. Candidate not asked to mark a circle. Candidate not asked to mark a circle. Older people are often the targets of financial fraud. The National Consumer League s National Fraud Information Center reports that half of all complaints about telemarketing fraud made in 2003 were made by victims age 50 and older. A recent Federal Trade Commission analysis showed internet-related complaints accounted for a significant share of complaints from consumers age 50 and older. In 2004, 41 percent of all reported fraud complaints (excluding identity theft) from consumers 50 and over were internet-related with monetary losses of more than $43 million. The FBI also reports that the proportion of individuals losing at least $5,000 to internet fraud is higher for victims 60 and older than it is for any other age group. More needs to be done to protect older Montanans from financial fraud. We need more resources dedicated to tracking down and prosecuting financial-fraud perpetrators, including the addition of computer forensics experts and equipment in the State Crime Lab. Most of these scammers operate out of state or overseas and we need better statefederal cooperation. It seems like the con artists think up new ways to defraud people every day. We need to keep the Attorney General s office up to date on the latest technologies and techniques used by criminals to keep up with their schemes. The Attorney General should also take a proactive role in educating seniors about what to watch out for in financial fraud schemes. I ll work with law enforcement and private partners, like AARP, to make sure those messages reach more people. As an Assistant Attorney General, I worked closely with AARP Montana and others in drafting and passing a comprehensive telemarketing fraud bill. Greed drives criminals to innovate and the door-to-door swindler has been joined by those visiting our boxes. Technology affords great opportunities, but is a gateway for identity theft and other scams. As AG I will continue aggressive and successful enforcement of state laws like the Identity Theft Passport, Do-Not-Call Registry, and the Security Freeze. I will establish a senior protection unit within the consumer protection bureau, offering both education and enforcement. I will also work closely with the State Auditor, law enforcement and consumer groups to increase awareness and enforcement, and advance legislation and legal actions to better protect Montanans from fraud. 2 November 4, 2008 Attorney General

3 Attorney General Background Checks Do you support or oppose legislation requiring fingerprint background checks for health care workers who care directly for vulnerable people in specific settings, including nursing homes, hospitals, adult day care centers, and private homes? Tim Fox (R): Steve Bullock (D): Background fingerprint checks for health care workers in specific settings Background fingerprint checks for health care workers in specific settings Background fingerprint checks for health care workers in specific settings Currently, Montana is not one of the 43 states that require back ground checks of health care workers who have extensive contact with some of our most vulnerable older persons and people with severe disabilities. Because of the possibility of identity theft or physical abuse, the most secure background check requires checking finger prints of potential employees. Currently, some Montana health care employers do background checks, but few do a fingerprint check. Some employers do no background check of any kind. AARP supports a requirement for fingerprint background checks for all health care workers who care directly for vulnerable people in specific settings including nursing homes, hospitals, adult day care centers and private homes to protect our most vulnerable Montanans from financial or physical abuse. We should do everything we can to make sure that the most vulnerable among us have the best care possible. Family, friends, and especially the patients themselves should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that caregivers have clean backgrounds. Montana has one of the fastest aging populations in the nation. Elders and persons with disabilities can be very vulnerable. While tens of thousands of amazing people work as direct care providers, there are some rotten apples, and they must be removed from these positions of trust. I will protect these Montanans and their families by supporting fingerprint checks, education and training for local law enforcement and county attorneys, toll-free consumer hotline information and assistance, and raising public awareness through the resources of this office. Other states implementing the strongest checks found serious problems and threats to their citizens among the current workers in their states. We shouldn t wait any longer to do the right thing, and we shouldn t settle for anything but meaningful protections. Attorney General November 4,

4 Attorney General Payday Loans Do you support or oppose legislation to cap interest rates on payday and title loans at 36%? Tim Fox (R): Steve Bullock (D): A cap of 36% APR on payday and title loans A cap of 36% APR on payday and title loans A cap of 36% APR on payday and title loans The candidate is undecided. Payday loans are small cash advances based on personal checks held by the lender for a short period of time, generally until the next payday or a one or two-week period. Title loans are cash advances secured by the title of a vehicle. Typical users of these loans are households with low- and moderateincomes. Payday and title loans usually worsen the financial situation of the borrower. Frequent refinancing of debt, such as loan rollovers and flipping often result in the accumulation of debt far beyond the consumer s ability to pay. A recent study conducted by the Consumer Federation of America and U.S. Public Interest Research Group found the average payday loan annual percentage rate (APR) was 474 percent. AARP supports a 36% APR interest rate cap. We must crackdown on predatory lending the current credit crisis certainly underscores this problem. However, credit industry regulation must account for negative effects that consumers/businesses may suffer. A recent bi-partisan vote in the legislature rejected a 36% limit, showing Montanans are divided on this solution. I ve heard testimony from consumers consider payday loans an irreplaceable part of their personalfinances. I ve also heard horror stories from families who fall into the debt-spiral that occurs when dealing with predatory lenders. The challenge is enacting legislation that protects consumer choice while eliminating bad practices. According to some personal-finance experts, the 36% cap does not adequately solve this problem. I think this issue warrants careful consideration by the next legislature to see if a better solution is possible. It is perfectly legal to charge hardworking Montanans an interest rate of up to 650% APR for short-term loans. They are not always a quick fix to a short-term financial crisis, and can lead to a cycle where the borrower must cover the first loan by visiting another payday lender, and incurring yet another 25% charge for the loan. Continue this cycle for a year, and a borrower could end up paying a whopping $1,500 in interest for a $250 loan. Almost ¼ of the states ban these types of loans entirely. Of those permitting them, Montana is one of the most permissive as to the amount lenders can charge. I will work to educate borrowers, and to limit or eliminate these predatory lending practices. 4 November 4, 2008 Attorney General

5 State Auditor Health Insurance Benefits Do you support or oppose legislation that allows health insurers to write policies that are exempt from mandated benefits? Duane Grimes (R): Monica Lindeen (D): Allowing health insurers to write policies exempt from current mandated benefits Allowing health insurers to write policies exempt from current mandated benefits Allowing health insurers to write policies exempt from current mandated benefits The candidate chose not to mark a circle. Current law requires all health insurance in Montana to cover certain services such as: maternity care; some preventive screenings, like mammograms; well-child care; mental health care; diabetes education; and coverage for children who are adopted or have severe disabilities. Insurers would like to change this law so they could sell insurance with less coverage and lower premiums. It s questionable just how much premiums would be reduced. AARP supports continuation of the current minimum benefit requirements to provide adequate health insurance coverage for all Montanans. As the regulator I will fully enforce the laws for the state including any and all mandates. It is the constitutional and historical function of the Auditors Office to enforce the law while it is the policy makers (legislature) responsibility to enact it. If legislators deliberate any mandates, I will strive to ensure the agency provides unbiased, non-discriminatory and actuarially sound data and information for policy makers in their deliberations on these issues on behalf of Montana consumers. I oppose legislation that allows health insurers to write policies that are exempt from mandated benefits. We should maintain Montana s mandated insurance benefits. State Auditor November 4,

6 Health Insurance for Small Businesses State Auditor Do you support or oppose expansion of the Insure Montana health insurance pool so more small businesses can buy affordable coverage? Duane Grimes (R): Monica Lindeen (D): Expand Insure Montana health insurance pool Expand Insure Montana health insurance pool Expand Insure Montana health insurance pool Insure Montana has proven to be a popular successful program to help provide health insurance to very small businesses. 170,000 Montanans are uninsured and many of these people work or own small businesses. Currently Insure Montana provides affordable health insurance through a purchasing pool to about 750 small businesses, with another 700 businesses on a waiting list for this coverage. It would cost the state around $9 million a year to subsidize the coverage for all the businesses on the waiting list and improve the coverage. AARP supports the expansion of Insure Montana as a way to get health coverage to more Montanans. The candidate chose not to mark a circle. Insure Montana is facing unrelenting cost increases that threaten its future for those Montanans enrolled. I support Insure Montana and will propose necessary improvements to make sure that it remains actuarially and programmatically sound for the longest and greatest benefit to those businesses enrolled. If possible, I will seek to enroll additional businesses from the waiting list in the current program. Additional funding is a policy decision of the Legislature but I will work to stabilize Insure Montana so that it is worthy of additional funding and propose options so that those funds are used in a sound, fiduciary manner and benefits the greatest number of truly uninsured Montanans. I support continuation and expansion of the successful Insure Montana program in order to ensure Montana s small business owners and their employees are provided with health care. Healthy employees are happier and more productive and providing health insurance as a benefit leads to less turnover and that s good for the business and the employee. 6 November 4, 2008 State Auditor

7 State Auditor Consumer Information Should the National Association of Insurance Commissioners make public, information about insurance companies related to the number of claims denied, consumer complaints, policy cancellations, etc.? NAIC should make detailed consumer information on health insurance policies public Duane Grimes (R): NAIC should make detailed consumer information on health insurance policies public Monica Lindeen (D): NAIC should make detailed consumer information on health insurance policies public The candidate chose not to mark a circle. Trying to select the best health insurance policy for a person and his or her family can be difficult. There isn t an unbiased source of information that compares various health insurance policies that would provide consumers basic information to make such decisions. A service that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) could provide to consumers is a public database on health insurance policies that would include the number of claims denied, consumer complaints, policy cancellations and non-renewals, the ratio of premiums collected to benefits paid, etc. AAPR believes that all Montanans should have access to detailed information needed to make well-informed decisions based on accurate information that will allow comparisons among competing health insurance policies. I believe that the State Auditors Office should make department data such as confirmed complaints on insurance companies readily available to all Montana consumers. I will also make sure that it is timely, and in an accessible format that can be easily read and understood. This will aid citizens in their purchase decisions. I don t support using proprietary data of private businesses in ways that could inadvertently cause rates to increase for Montanans. Candidate chose not to add comments. State Auditor November 4,

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