Top health official coming to Libby

The nation’s top health-care official will be in Libby on Monday for a town-hall meeting to discuss ongoing health care for asbestos victims.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will meet with Libby residents at 4 p.m. at Libby City Hall, 952 Spruce Street, at a meeting hosted by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

As the top federal health-care official, Sebelius is in charge of ensuring that the health-care coverage is working well for the residents of Libby and all victims of asbestos exposure from the former W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine near Libby.

At the town hall, she and Baucus will talk with residents about ways to ensure the continued success of the new Affordable Care Act and the coverage it provides. She also will visit the Center for Asbestos Related Disease or CARD clinic, where many victims of the exposure receive care.

The Affordable Care Act is aimed at lowering health-care costs for Americans, improving coverage across the state and country, and modernizing America’s health-care system.

Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, fought to include coverage for people affected by public-health emergencies — like the one in Libby — in the new law. As a result of his efforts, victims of the asbestos exposure in Libby now are eligible for federally funded health-care coverage.