Not even healthy companies can pay their long term debt with their current cash. Their long term creditors cannot force them to liquidate their assets to pay them inmediatly.
Of course these companies have A>L and therefore they are not in BK.
As soon as WMI gets A>L and enough cash to keep paying for years, the priority rules change and the long term creditors lose their right to even dilute commons.
This is what the media is failing to report. They are just reporting the equation of Assest versus Debt+Prefs as if the money for commons will come out of a liquidation based on this equation.
The point is that the BK court will not rule in favor of a liquidation as soon as A>Debt with assets mostly cash and debt mostly long term.
The 4b and the NOL will create the conditions to avoid the liquidation and therefore the commons can keep intact the rights to benefit from litigations and/or settlements.
I do not expect commons to get the money just from the 4B + NOLs. This money will be kept to stay alive, paying credotrs and prefs interests, out of BK and litigating the rest of matters.
If WMI gets out of BK it will be in much better shape (cash and potential earnings ) than many start-ups which are trading with nice pps based just in business plans much more limited cash.