Expect Y2K glitches, Senators say

While no major national meltdown is expected to coincide with the year 2000 date change, local glitches and global uncertainties could create some problems, the Senate's top Y2K watchdogs said Wednesday.

"Y2K problems will not be spread across the nation, they will occur across the street," Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said. "If you stockpile information, you will develop your own contingency plans and you won't panic."

In the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem's final assessment, the health care industry still poses the greatest risk for Y2K problems in the United States. Dodd said problems within about 20 states could impact whether low-income individuals will have access to Medicaid services and children's health care services.

"There are a lot of areas where we don't have much information, or much hasn't been done," Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said about the health care system. "One hundred days to go still gives us ample opportunity to improve."

Dodd said the lack of independent assessments of foreign preparedness makes it difficult to assess international Y2K preparations. He said countries like China and Russia that have provided little information and have yet to make substantial Y2K fixes.

Bennett added that some economists are predicting "a better than 50 percent chance" of a worldwide recession because of a lack of international Y2K preparations. The Utah senator said the Asian economic downturn is an example of how international problems could hit the United States.