Medicare liens slow asbestos settlement process
Medicare liens placed on the state of Montana’s $25 million settlement with Libby asbestos victims has slowed the process of paying victims, but the money for most people involved in the settlement should be forthcoming yet this month.
“Hundreds of checks should go out this week,” Kalispell attorney Roger Sullivan said Monday.
Sullivan is one of the attorneys with the law firm McGarvey, Heberling, Sullivan & Lacey that represented 826 claimants in the state settlement. The Great Falls law firm of Lewis, Slovak, Kovacich and Snipes represented another 200 claimants.
Under the federal Medicare Secondary Payer Act, government agencies such as Medicare that pay for medical-related asbestos treatment place a lien on any settlement a victim receives, Sullivan explained.
“Medicare has a lien on recovery by Libby asbestos victims for the asbestos-related medical expenses that Medicare has already paid for,” he said. That has been the case with all settlements related to the asbestos exposure from the W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine near Libby.
“Fortunately we’ve been able to reach agreement with Medicare and liens have been paid for a majority of people,” Sullivan said. “If the cases don’t fit within the large majority of those in the bell curve, if there are unusual circumstances, then those cases are individually adjusted. We’re well into the process for those as well.”
Money from the state settlement is held by a trustee. It’s the trustee that issues the checks to asbestos victims.
Under the special Libby provisions in the Affordable Care Act, people of any age who have been diagnosed with asbestos-related disease qualify for Medicare.
“Virtually all of our Libby clients are Medicare-qualified,” Sullivan said. “But the corollary is when they (the victims) recover additional moneys, whether it’s from the state or other entities, Medicare has their hand out.”
Earlier this year the state agreed to the $25 million settlement with more than 1,000 victims of asbestos disease over claims that state health officials did not warn Libby residents about the toxic exposure created by the W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine.
Asbestos exposure from the now-defunct mine sickened and killed not only mine workers and their family members but also residents of the Libby area who were exposed by simply living in the community.
In 2011 the state negotiated a $43 million settlement with asbestos victims. In exchange for releasing the state and various state agencies from future claims, more than 1,100 claimants with asbestos disease got a portion of that settlement.
The recent settlement included victims who were diagnosed after the 2011 settlement through June 4, 2016. Anyone diagnosed since then potentially could have a claim against the state.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.