In Libby, Montana, more than 400 individuals have died of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. An additional few thousand suffer daily from the effects of inhaling asbestos dust from the tainted vermiculite mine that operated there for decades, most recently owned by the W.R. Grace Company. To add insult to injury, many of these individuals have been waiting for help from Medicare for more than a year.

Thanks to the work of one senator and a variety of other advocates for those in Libby who’ve been sickened by asbestos exposure, at least 100 of the 150 or so asbestos victims waiting for settlement from Medicare should receive their funds by the end of the month. Not only is this essential for their pocketbooks, notes an article in The Missoulian, but the distribution of funds from Medicare or Medicaid is also essential because these agencies must act before those individuals can receive any compensation from legal settlements against the State of Montana and W.R. Grace.

According to the article, Medicare will be entitled to receive a portion of the upcoming multi-million dollar settlements from both Grace and the state. That will allow them to be reimbursed for all government-sponsored medical treatment that may have been provided for patients suffering from such diseases as mesothelioma cancer and asbestosis.

Lawsuits against W.R. Grace and Company have determined that company executives were well aware of the health problems suffered by miners, as well as family members of those individuals and community members who lived near the mine, yet they did nothing to warn employees or the general public of the dangers present at the facility. As such, thousands have been sickened and the government has been working to clean-up the area since 2000. Many refer to the Libby debacle as the worst environmental disaster in American history.

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