Rockville, MD (July 4, 2005) – Two-thirds of Americans indicated
in a recent national survey that they believe the government has
financial programs they would be eligible for but don’t know
enough about them to apply – primarily because the government is
not doing a sufficient enough job of letting Americans know. The
survey was conducted by the University of Connecticut, Center
for Survey Research and Analysis. These recent survey results
reveal that many Americans think the government is doing a poor
job of letting people know about government financial assistance
programs. Of the 1,000 people surveyed, nearly half (48%)
earning more than $75,000 annually, believe they are eligible
for money they don’t know about. A significant majority of both
Democrats (73%) and Republications (60%) believe there is money
available they are unaware of. And more people under the age of
44 (72%) than over the age of 60 (56%) believe there is unknown
money due to them. “During these tight economic times when
families are watching each and every penny they earn and spend,
it is crucial for Americans to know what monies are available to
them,” says Matthew Lesko, New York Times Best Selling author
and consumer advocate who works to educate Americans about free
government money. “It is imperative for all Americans to know
what they have access to.” Do You Think You Are Eligible For
Gov’t Financial Programs But Don’t Know How To Get Them?*
.......Yes
........... 65%
.......No
............ 27%
.......Don’t Know
.........7%
* U of Connecticut Survey
Recent studies by the government itself and other research
organizations show that over 50 million consumers don’t know to
take advantage of programs that they are legally entitled to
including: 4 million senior citizens can receive up to $1,000
from Medicare but they don’t apply because they are unaware of
the program (
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04363.pdf) 6 million
families are missing out on free health insurance for their kids
(
http://www.kff.org/Medicaid/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/
getfile.cfm&PageID=28333) 10 million families can get up to
$4,000 a year for groceries but don’t apply
(
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04346.pdf) 8 million college
students can receive grants and low interest loans but don’t
apply
(
http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Releases_200
4&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=3245) Single moms
can receive some of the $673 million in collected unclaimed
child support payments
(
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04377high.pdf) 29 million senior
citizens don’t know they can get colonoscopies, bone mass
measurement, prostate cancer and glaucoma tests paid for by
Medicare (
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03958.pdf) According to
the United States Government budget data for 2005*, the
government gives out over $1.5 Trillion a year in money programs
to individual taxpayers, and only 12% of this money goes to the
poor**. This is an average of over $11,000 for every U.S.
taxpayer. And this figure continues to grow every year no matter
who is in the White House. To learn more about this survey or
how to access resources for government money, please call
Matthew Lesko 301-929-8400 or visit
www.lesko.com/survey.
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