
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 27, 1994                   TAG: 9405270112
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

POSTCARDS UNDERMINE REFORM BILL

Advocates for the elderly Thursday denounced three direct-mail organizations as "liars for hire," saying they are fleecing older Americans and poisoning support for health reform with frightening letters.

The direct-mail organizations have dumped millions of postcards and letters into the mailboxes of elderly Americans, soliciting donations and warning of dire consequences if Congress passes President Clinton's health plan.

Among their claims: "Jail time if you buy extra care" and "There will be no doctors left to treat you."

Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, condemned the groups as "charlatans" and "modern-day snake-oil salesmen." He said one was under investigation by the FBI and another was founded by a convicted extortionist.

Pryor cautioned older Americans to beware opening their wallets for organizations "that are writing them preaching fears and lies about health care reform."

Thursday's event, complete with a poster of a misleading claim propped under a portrait of George Washington, was interrupted by officials of one of the vilified groups, the American Council for Health Care Reform.

In an unusual scene in a narrow Capitol corridor, the two men - Christopher Manion and William H. Shaker - were mobbed by reporters, cameras, congressional aides and seniors advocates shouting sometimes-angry questions about their profits, salaries and credentials.

Manion, holding a dog-eared copy of the president's health bill, said he and Shaker stand on "solid ground, both legally and morally" and said that while not a lawyer, "I'm a Ph.D. and I know how to read the law."

Joining Pryor in Thursday's attack were Rep. Andy Jacobs, D-Ind.; the National Council of Senior Citizens; the American Association of Retired Persons; and the National Council on Aging.

Singled out for criticism, in addition to the American Council, were the United Seniors Association Inc. and the Seniors Coalition. All three are based in Northern Virginia.

by CNB