Senator brings Medicare chief to Libby

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is bringing the top official in charge of Medicare to Libby on Wednesday. 

The visit is part of Baucus’ ongoing work to ensure Libby asbestos victims are taken care of after he leaves the Senate at the end of 2014. 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner was confirmed by the Senate in May. 

Due to a provision Baucus wrote in the Affordable Care Act, Libby asbestos victims receive health care coverage under Medicare, which Tavenner heads.

“The people of Libby suffered a grave injustice at the hands of greed,” Baucus said in a news release. “Together, we’ve worked hard to begin healing and deliver the much-needed health care folks in Libby deserve. But we still have work to do. I want to make sure Administrator Tavenner is so moved by her visit to Libby that she will ensure CMS carries on our work long after I leave the Senate.”  

Baucus will take Tavenner to the Libby cemetery where families of those lost to asbestos poisoning will share the stories of their loved ones.

Baucus and Tavenner also will tour the Center for Asbestos Related Diseases where they will meet not only asbestos victims currently benefitting from Medicare coverage but also some who are not eligible for certain benefits because they have moved out of Lincoln County.  

Baucus has been calling on Medicare to extend benefits to Libby victims no longer living in Lincoln County.

Baucus will also bring Tavenner to the Northwest Community Health Center in Lincoln County to show her firsthand how implementation of the Affordable Care Act is working for rural Montana clinics. 

“The Affordable Care Act is already working for thousands of Montana families, and we have to do everything we can to make sure Montanans have the tools and information they need to take advantage of the Exchanges and all the other benefits coming in 2014,” Baucus said. “It’s important for folks in Washington to get out from behind their desks and see what’s working, and what isn’t, on the ground in places like rural Montana.” 

The people of Libby and surrounding Lincoln County were poisoned by asbestos in vermiculite from the W.R. Grace mine, according to the Baucus press release. Nearly 400 people have died.   

At the Libby cemetery, Baucus will take Tavenner to the grave of Les Skramstad. 

Baucus and Skramstad first met in Libby in 2000 at a town meeting where residents described the awful legacy of W.R. Grace. 

Baucus frequently describes meeting Skramstad as a pivotal moment in his work to secure justice for Libby asbestos victims. Skramstad died in 2007 from asbestos-related disease. Baucus has given Skramstad’s photo to several agency heads over the years to remind them to make Libby a priority, and to this day, Baucus keeps a photo of Skramstad at his desk.  

Baucus gave a photo of Skramstad to Tavenner during her confirmation hearing in the Senate, which is currently on her desk.