Community members in Libby, Montana have flooded Governor Brian Schweitzer’s office with phone calls, letters, and a community petition in recent weeks, demanding that the state of Montana “step up to the plate” and provide increased funding for asbestos-related agencies.
“The more people the governor knows are impacted by this funding, the better off the community will be in getting the money allocated to asbestos-related health care,” said Tanis Hernandez, an Outreach Coordinator for the Center of Asbestos Related Disease (CARD).
Brad Black, who works for the Lincoln County Health Department, said that community members and health workers are asking the governor to include money for asbestos-related healthcare into the state budget, and stressed how “critical” this funding is in 2009.
“Folks are dependent on it for health care that is failing to be covered. We need these monies to cover basic health care for people who have had adverse asbestos effects,” Black stated.
At a meeting held in Lincoln County on December 11, 2008, community members and county representatives had the opportunity to devise a plan that would hopefully lead to an increase in funding. They began circulating petitions and urged county residents to make phone calls and send emails and letters to Governor Schweitzer.
An official letter drafter by the Lincoln County Community Advisory Group and sent to the governor on December 23, 2008 requested that $2.3 million dollars be allocated to asbestos healthcare. They included a copy of a petition signed by community members asking for the governor’s continued support in the future.
One program in need of funding is the Libby Asbestos Medical Plan (LAMP), which was created with a $2.75 million dollar settlement paid out by W.R. Grace, the now-bankrupt mining corporation that owned and operated mines in the town of Libby, MT. In 2007, an additional $2 million dollars was presented to the Lincoln County Board of Health in order to provide continued funding for asbestos agencies.
LAMP and other agencies, including the Asbestos-Related Diseases Network (ARD-Net) benefited from this funding and were able to cover medical costs for those plagued by asbestos-caused diseases that were not covered by what was known as the W.R. Grace-Libby Medical Plan. Despite this, some people’s claims are still being denied, and they are left without crucial medical treatment because they cannot afford to cover costs out of pocket.
Libby, MT is well-known for having an extremely high rate of
asbestos-related diseases, including asthma, asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer.
Mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer, has taken the lives of thousands of Libby
residents who either worked for the now-closed W.R. Grace or were exposed in a
secondhand fashion.
LAMP, ARD-Net and a few other agencies are expected to exhaust their funding sometime this year. At that time, the fate of those suffering from asbestos-related ailments, including asbestos cancer, is unknown.
For additional information about asbestos exposure, mesothelioma cancer, mesothelioma treatment options and more, please visit Mesothelioma.com.
