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MAY 16, 200 1 •
cue
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with $500 and $350 going to second and
third-place finishers. For addit ional information regarding program details incl uding spe cific eve nt s and tracks or to get
registration forms, visit the Yamaha web
site at www.yamaha-mot or.com .
Glen Helen Racew ay in San Bernardino .
Californ ia. has anno unced that the new
moun ta in portion of its racetrack will be
called Yamaha Mountain. The new
portion of the track is 400 feet straight up
and down, according to Glen Helen, and
it w ill be used only once a year during the
AMA Motocro ss Nat ional.
A full 20 mo re members of C ongress
have jo ined force s w ith their coll eagues
to se nd a letter as k ing tha t o ffi cial s
reve rse rece nt fe deral r ule s le galizing
health"in su r a n c e d iscrimination
against motorcyclists and others involved
in various forms of recreation. according
to the AM A . Addre ssed to U .S . Health
and Human Service s S ecretary Tom my
Thompso n and Labor S ec retary Elaine
Chao , the letter comes in response to
the recent ru le s tha t imple mented the
19 96 He alt h Insurance Port abil it y and
Accoun tability Ac t (H IPAAl. The rules .
issued by th e Cl inton adm inistrat io n in
the final day s of his pr es idency, are to
tak e effect M ay 8. The lett er is written by
Rep . Phil ip M Crane and sign ed by 20
members of Congress from the state of
Illinois. including Ho use Speaker J . Dennis Hastert . This late st letter comes on
t he heels of an earl ier letter signed by
more than 50 members of Congress over
t he same is su e , wh ic h t he AM A ha s
pushe d sinc e the r u le s were first
released . As originally written, the bill was
de signed to protect wo rke rs fr om dis cri mina t io n in the hea lth insurance they
receive through t heir emp loyers. Wh en
the regulat ions w ere released - five years
af ter the original act was pas sed - the
rules allowed ins urers to deny coverage
of any injury sustained w hile part icipating
in legal recreational activ ities like motorcyc li ng. snowm ob ilin g . s kiing or other
similar activi ties . The members of Congres s say the rule s sho uld not stand .
"W e are concerned that the regulations
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