State facing $43 million payout: Asbestos-victim money would come from general fund
The entire $43 million payout proposed to settle claims by Libby asbestos victims will come from the state’s general fund, the Legislative Fiscal Division confirmed this week.
Attorneys representing more than 1,100 claimants with asbestos disease linked to the former W.R. Grace vermiculite mine in Libby told victims several months ago that the state’s insurance company would split the cost of the settlement, but now that’s not the case.
The proposed $43 million settlement will need legislative approval and is among $103.8 million in unexpected budget increases, according to a list prepared by the Legislative Fiscal Division.
Other unexpected costs to the state include more than $22 million in additional Medicaid caseloads through the Department of Health and Human Services; nearly $10 million for public school support; $20.5 million in federal tax legislation; and $8 million for fire costs based on average fire season needs, less a statutory emergency appropriation.
“So yes, taxpayer money is involved” with the asbestos settlement, said Jessica Sena, a Senate communications aide for the Republican Party. “It’s an unexpected surprise.”
If the Legislature approves the settlement for asbestos victims as part of overall budget bill, it also needs court approval before it’s final.
While terms of the settlement have not been divulged by the victims’ attorneys, one of the victims with severe asbestos disease shared confidential paperwork explaining the settlement with the Daily Inter Lake.
A key element of the proposed settlement is releasing the state of Montana and various state agencies from future claims related to the former vermiculite mine in Libby that has killed hundreds of people and sickened thousands. The state also is not admitting any liability in settling the claims.
In another caveat of the settlement, if any Medicare or Medicaid claim for reimbursement exists against an asbestos victim, no settlement funds would be released to the victim until the reimbursement claim has been satisfied.
Lawyers would get a 33 percent cut of the settlement and $500,000 would be held back for a contingency fund. Victims with mesothelioma, one of the most severe asbestos-related cancers, would get $60,723 each in the proposed settlement, according to legal documents. That’s before attorney fees are subtracted.
Those with lung cancer and other cancers each would get $51,908.
The grid divides asbestos disease into severe, moderate and mild cases, with payments ranging from $51,908 to $34,279.
Legal wrangling between the state and asbestos victims has been going on for more than a decade since the magnitude of asbestos exposure from the mine came to light in late 1999. Victims claim the state failed to inform the public of the risks associated with asbestos-contaminated vermiculite that sickened not only miners but also their family members and residents of the Libby area who breathed in the toxic asbestos particles.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.