• 4 Million Seniors: up to $1,000 from Medicare3
• 6 Million Families: free health insurance for their kids4
• 10 Million Families: up to $4,000 a year for groceries5
• 800,000 College Students: up to $4,050 for books and tuition bills6
• Single Moms: $673 Million in collected unclaimed child support payments7
• 29 Million Seniors: free medical services8

• 39% of recent consumers who called the Medicare hotline with questions got the wrong answer or no answer at all, and
• 96% of the doctors who called into Medicare got the wrong answer or only a partial answer.

Question 1: Is it true that most of the $350 billion cited in advertisements is Medicaid and Medicare? Readers might not see that as the kind of free grant money the advertisements seem to hint at. What is your response?

Answer 1: No, it is not true that most of the $350 billion cited in advertisements is Medicaid and Medicare money. It can’t possibly be true because the total bill for Medicaid and Medicare is about $542 billion, and this is a lot more than $350 billion (see #1 below).

The true total for government benefits to taxpayers is $1.2 TRILLION (see #2). This is a number that includes Medicaid and Medicare. And this does not even include the $30 billion that is given out each year by non-profit organizations. So if I was looking for a number that would include all government benefit programs as well as programs from non-profit organizations I would have used $1.23 Trillion (see #3).

But, I also disagree that any number representing government programs should not include Medicaid and Medicare because, I assume, this should be because most people already know about these two programs. The goal of my work is to try and educate Americans about little-known government programs and I feel it would be irresponsible of me not to include these two programs because there are many aspects of these major programs that go unused by people who are actually eligible. For example:

• 4 Million People Are Eligible To Receive Up To $1,000 Cash From The Medicare Program But Don’t Apply (see #4).
• 29 Million Medicare Recipients Don't Take Advantage Of Free Preventive Health Services like flu shots, tetanus shots, pap smear, mammography, vaginal cancer, colorectal cancer -colonoscopy, osteoporosis -bone mass measurement, prostate cancer test, glaucoma tests (see #5).
• 6 Million Families Are Eligible for Free Health Insurance For Kids Under a Medicaid Related Program But Don’t Apply (see #6).

The $350 billion figure is actually an educated guess based on my 25 years of studying government programs. It was meant to be a conservative estimate. A more defensible number would be $1.23 Trillion. What I think is more indefensible is the assumption that every one knows about the various programs under Medicare and Medicaid. I am sure that New York’s Consumer Protection Board is doing some good work if their web site claims that they save 20,000 consumers about $500,000 (see #7) a year. I would think that they should also take an interest in helping the 39 million consumers who can save, not $500,000, but over $5 BILLION a year from little known programs that the law says they are already eligible for.

(#1) 2005 U.S. Budget http://a255.g.akamaitech.net/7/255/2422/02feb20041242/www.gpoaccess.gov/
usbudget/fy05/pdf/budget/hhs.pdf

(#2) From page 151, “Running On Empty”, Peter G. Peterson, former Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York

(#3) The Foundation Center, http://fdncenter.org/research/trends_analysis/pdf/state04.pdf

(#4) U.S. Government Accountability Office, Results of Social Security Administration's 2002 Outreach to Low-Income Beneficiaries: Outreach to Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries: GAO-04-363: www.gao.gov

(#5) U.S. Government Accountability Office, Medicare: Most Beneficiaries Receive Some but Not All Recommended Services, GAP-03-958, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03958.pdf

(#6) The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation http://www.kff.org/medicaid/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=28333

(#7) http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/about.htm

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Question 2: Why does Mr. Lesko claim to be a New York Times columnist when the newspaper disputes that?

Answer 2: I guess I was wrong here. I definitely was a columnist for the New York Times Syndicate and my column appeared in many major newspapers around the country. I was also a columnist for The Chicago Tribune syndication service. The problem is that some of my biographies say “Columnist for the New York Times” and not “Columnist for the New York Times Syndicate”. They are all part of the same company and it is still difficult for me to understand the difference, but since this has been brought to my attention we are in the process of making the changes where this is mentioned.

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Question 3: One example of a grant cited on Mr. Lesko’s Web site involves a researcher who was given $500,000 to "travel the world," suggesting others can apply for similar offers. In reality, the New York consumer agency says, the researcher is a quantum physicist and professor at Georgetown University, who won a grant from the National Science Foundation. Can general consumers really apply for such grants? Is it fair to suggest they do so?

Answer 3: James Freerick is indeed a physicist who received $500,000 from the National Science Foundation and other sources. But Dr. Freerick is not the only testimonial we show as getting government money. We also show dozens of people including:

• Phil Newsome who received $9,000 to train for a new job,
• Skip Smith who received $3,000 of free medications for his mother,
• Pamela Viers who received $50,000 to send her kids to college (see #8)

The point of showing a testimonial like Dr. Freerick, along with other people of various backgrounds, is to educate consumers and fight the myth held by many that most government money goes to people on welfare or to people with very low income. It is a fact that only 12% of government money programs go to the poor. And it is also a fact tha only 25% of government money programs have income requirements for getting the money (see #9). These facts make it clear that there are plenty of programs available for all income categories and backgrounds.

The argument by the Consumer Protection Board against me showing someone like Dr. Freerick, who is well educated and not an average struggling consumer, seems to contradict their other complaint against me for including the value of Medicaid and Medicare in the total dollar figure because these two programs are only for low income, struggling consumers, which, by the way, is also a myth. How can someone say that, on one hand, I should not show someone who is above average getting government money because average people can’t apply for this program and, on the other hand, I should not talk about programs like Medicare and Medicaid because these are programs that any average person can apply for.

Also I would certainly be a stupid businessperson if I did not try to include every type of potential customer in my marketing efforts when in fact there are government programs for people of all incomes and backgrounds. Here are some famous examples:

• While running Halliburton Company, Vice President Dick Cheney received over $1.5 billion from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Bank to finance his overseas sales. He also received over $2.3 billion in federal contracts during the 5-year period he was in charge.
• Presidential Bush received $200 million worth of government grants to build a new stadium while he was in charge of the Texas Rangers baseball team. In five years this project raised the value of his original $606,302 investment to $14.9 million.
• Peter Jennings of ABC news reported how Mohamed Atta, the leader of the 9/11 terrorist attacks purchased a copy of my book, “Free Money To Change Your Life” and walked into a government office in Florida to apply for $650,000 to purchase an airplane. The government did not give him the money because they did not think he
  had a good idea, BUT HE WAS ELIGIBLE. (see #10)

If someone who came to the country to kill 3,000 Americans is eligible to get government money, why shouldn’t the rest of Americans, rich or poor, young or old, privileged or not privileged, also know about these programs. Isn’t this what our American democracy is all about? The benefits that this country provides belong to everyone, not just a few.

(#8) http://www.freemoneyforrealestate.com/23/126.html

(#9) From page 151, “Running On Empty”, Peter G. Peterson, former Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York

(#10) http://www.lesko.com/pressrelease.htm/

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Question 4: “Free car repairs” mentioned on page 33 of “Free Money to Pay Your Bills” actually involves automobile recalls. That seems like a stretch; can you explain?

Answer 4: The free car repairs through automobile recalls are just one of many sources of government money one can for car repair bills. There are dozens of other programs available from the government and non-profit organizations. A 2004 study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (see #11) shows that there are at least 43 programs that provide cash for people who need to repair their cars. The programs that offer this money have income requirements that go up to $38,000 for a family of 4. The report shows the following car-related programs:

(#11) U.S. Government Accountability Office Report http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04256.pdf

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Question 5: The board says the books suggest people can get money from private assistance agencies, even though many of the agencies don't give away money. For example, it promises "Free Money to Pay Your Alcohol Rehab Bills." But the book is referring to Salvation Army treatment programs for alcoholics, which don’t give away cash to people. How do you explain that?

Answer 5: You are right that many of the substance abuse programs do not give you a check or cash but directly pay for your treatment. The system normally cuts out the middleman, the consumer, and pays for a person’s treatment directly. I fail to see the difference. In both instances someone else is paying your bills.
But more importantly, there are certainly many more programs available for alcohol rehab than the Salvation Army. Here is a quote from the 2005 U.S. Budget about over 3,600 programs around the country that offer programs like this on a sliding scale basis or for free:

“Health Centers deliver high-quality, affordable health care to over 13 million patients at 3,600 sites across the United States. Health Centers serve individuals that live in underserved and rural areas and their clients include low income individuals, migrant farm workers, homeless individuals, school children, individuals in need of drug and alcohol treatment, and HIV/AIDS infected individuals… The President’s Health Centers Initiative is creating 1,200 new and expanded health center sites to serve an additional 6.1 million people by 2006.” Under Administration’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative program, the Access to Recovery program “will provide $200 million to enable 100,000 new individuals to obtain substance abuse treatment services, including faith and community-based treatment providers.” (see #12)

Examples of other programs include:

• Free Services and Low Cost Services At 11,000 Treatment Centers… The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration’s office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (see #13) maintains a database of 11,000 treatment centers. Searching these centers you can see which offer sliding scale fees and those that offer services paid for by other government money programs. A middle-class friend of mine was able to get her husband admitted into one of these programs and had the entire bill paid for by government money.
• Free and Sliding Scale Treatment When You Have No Insurance…The Health Resources and Services Administration of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services maintains a database describing
  over 3,700 government supported health care centers around the country that offer all kinds of services including alcohol treatment services (#14).

(#12) From the 2005 U.S. Budget of the Untied States, Department of Health And Human Services, page 144 http://a255.g.akamaitech.net/7/255/2422/02feb20041242/www.gpoaccess.gov/
usbudget/fy05/pdf/budget/hhs.pdf

(#13) http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/about.htm

(#14) Health Resources and Services Administration at the U.S. Dept. HHS, http://www.ask.hrsa.gov/Primary.cfm or call 888-275-4772.

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Question 6: The board also says Mr. Lesko sells customer lists to other grant-offering groups. And in at least one case, a list buyer was accused of deception by the Federal Trade Commission (Grant Search Inc. and Grant PAC). Do you sell customer lists? Did you sell to Grant Search or Grant PAC?

Answer 6: I am not sure what the charge is here. I can tell you that like tens of thousands of other consumer companies, including Readers Digest, The Wall Street Journal, and U.S. News and World Report, we make our mailing list available to other consumer companies through list brokers. In our system of American capitalism the renting of mailing lists is an important profit center for every consumer company, and we would be foolish not to take advantage of this. However, we do not rent the names of customers who wish not to have their name used for other offers.

I am not personally aware of the companies called Grant Search or Grant PAC. But U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) literature shows that in July 2003 these companies were fined by the FTC and banned from doing any more business (see #15). So if the question is did we sell our names to them since July 2003, the answer is it would have been very difficult for them to get our names because the FTC put them out of business. And if for some reason these people were able to get our names from our list brokers during this period, I hope that the New York Consumer Protection Board first contacted the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about their knowledge of this illegal activity.

But if the question is did these companies use our mailing list before July 2003, the answer is that they might have and I would have to investigate this further. I can say that we do have a system where we approve every direct mail campaign that uses our list but clever and sneaky people can easily find ways around the system. Just like the terrorist Mohamed Atta who was able to buy and use one of our products to do others harm. It is an ethical leap to say that we are responsible for every devious activity someone may or may not have done with product of ours that is available on the open market. I don’t think America works that way, if it did, auto manufacturers would be responsible for the results of every accident caused by a drunk driver.

We would certainly not rent our list to anyone engaged in fraudulent activities and would appreciate the New York Consumer Protection Board, or anyone else for that matter, to notify us if there is ever a potential of us doing so. In the case of Grant Search and Grant PAC, it would have been helpful if the Board notified us before July 2003, the date the companies were put out of business.

(#15) http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/07/grant.htm

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Question 7: In general, the New York State Consumer Protection Board believes Mr. Lesko is exaggerating claims in the book and taking advantage of downtrodden consumers. What is your response to that?

Answer 7: I can understand that the information mentioned in our advertising may not apply to every single person who orders our book. This is primarily a result of trying to interest people in our products in the shortest amount of time. Every advertiser, news outlet and even politician frames their stories and information this manner. Because of this I can understand that some people may misunderstand our mission. But I believe that our mission is to stay in business in order to educate the general public about programs available from government and non-profit organizations.

What is more reprehensible to me is the headline on the press release from the New York State Consumer Protection Board stating:

“Author of ‘Free Money to Pay Your Bills’
admits there's no free money to pay your bills”

We never say anything like this and never have because it’s not true. What we say plainly in the introduction of the book is:

“Most government money programs are for specific kinds of bills, like rent, healthcare, child care and housing. The government does not have a category called credit card bills… (but)… there are plenty of programs that give out money that can be used to pay off credit card bills.”

We have sold millions of books on this subject and from our conversations with the New York Consumer Protection Board THEY HAVE NOT RECEIVED ONE COMPLAINT ABOUT OUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. And if they did contact us with a complaint we would have refunded the customers’ money immediately. This has been our policy for over 25 years. We do not want anyone unhappy with one of our products.

So if the New York Consumer Protection Board does not have any complaints against us, what is this all about? I assume their job is to investigate consumer complaints. Have they run out of companies to investigate that have actual complaints against them and is the Board pursuing some other mission?

It’s not so important that the New York Consumer Protection Board is spending time trying to misrepresent me. What is important is that they are misrepresenting the United States government and misleading consumers by denying the facts about legitimate government programs that are available to help Americans with their finances.

Maybe their time would be better spent by linking the Consumer Protection Board’s web site to my FREE web site that shows consumers over 10,000 government sources of money and help they can learn about FOR FREE. Or, I’d even put it on their web site FOR FREE. Take a look www.helpyourself.lesko.com.

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UPDATE: December 16, 2004

Lesko Seeks Retraction From MSNBC For False and Misleading Statements

On December 14, 2004, MSNBC published an article in response to a report by the NY Consumer Protection Board. In this article, MSNBC’s Technology correspondent, Bob Sullivan interviewed Ed Johnson, President and CEO of the Washington-area Better Business Bureau (BBB). We are seeking a retraction from MSNBC because we believe that Mr. Sullivan misrepresented the facts of this interview with the BBB and that the article falsely and negatively reflects on our reputation.

The article states that the BBB has assigned an “unsatisfactory rating” to our company, Information, USA, Inc. due to receiving 85 customer complaints in the past three years. We spoke with Mr. Johnson and he stated that his comments were misrepresented by MSNBC.

Mr. Johnson clarified that the BBB rating was based on ONLY ONE unresolved complaint – one we never received. The other 84 (amounting to only 28 per year out of hundreds of thousands of book sales) were resolved to the BBB’s and the customer’s satisfaction.

MSNBC implies that we had 85 complaints that were resolved unsatisfactorily, when in fact we only had only one – and only because we were unaware of it. This one complaint was from a customer who purchased one of our books published in 1996. We are working to resolve this issue immediately.

This is how we approach our customer service. This is how I run my business. By implying otherwise, MSNBC is misleading consumers while falsely reporting that I am.

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REGISTER YOUR OPINION!

If you think the Consumer Protection Board is wrong call Teresa Santiago, Executive Director, at:
212-459-8849
If you think I'm wrong call me and tell me about it at:
301-929-8400