Baucus asks for CARD funding

In a letter dated March 15, U.S. Senator Max Baucus asked U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to fund ongoing health care efforts in Libby.

The request specifically seeks a direct grant to fund the Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic, which is facing mounting financial problems in the wake of W.R. Grace drastically scaling back its health care coverage for residents.

At Baucus' request, Leavitt visited Libby on March 10, attending a briefing at the CARD clinic, and listening to Libby residents explain the dire health care situation during a town hall meeting at city hall.

"The people of Libby face two major challenges: catastrophic illness, and barriers to treatment of that illness," Baucus said in his letter to Leavitt.

"As you noted during your visit, the CARD clinic's expertise in diagnosing and treating disease caused by tremolite asbestos renders it an essential resource to Libby and those who receive care from its dedicated staff," he said.

"The doors to the CARD clinic must remain open to those sickened by asbestos," Baucus said. "With the clinic's financial resources in jeopardy, I am again requesting that HHS do whatever it can to provide funding to help the CARD clinic."

Baucus helped secure the funds to start the CARD clinic in 1999 from then-HHS Secretary Donna Shalala. He said the agency must step in again to help continue the important role the clinic plays in providing health care in Libby.

"That is important," said Dr. Brad Black, CARD director. "Max has managed to bring it front and center with Secretary Leavitt."

Although Grace denies cutting back their voluntary health plan for victims of the contamination in Libby, Black said the plan administrators are constantly refusing to fund various expenses and services needed by registered patients within the program.

"Grace is not going to fund what we need to do, especially in research and outreach," Black said.

Baucus is also asking Leavitt to cut "bureaucratic red tape" that is preventing Medicare from covering many residents' health care expenses. And he is also drafting a separate letter to the Social Security Administration because the agency is refusing to provide Social Security disability benefits to many residents.

"Social security and Medicare won't save us," Black said. "They're being cut all of the times and driving doctors out of business."

Baucus pointed out to Leavitt that a large portion of the CARD clinic's funding comes from the Grace health plan but payments have been uncertain in recent months, forcing CARD to turn to other sources of funding, such as the Libby Asbestos Medical Plan. LAMP funding originates from a settlment between W.R. Grace and the EPA, which the EPA then donated to Libby to pay for asbestos victims' health care. Of the $2.75 million settlement, about $750,000 has already been spent.

"If CARD Clinic claims continue to be denied by the Grace health plan, LAMP funds will be rapidly exhausted," Baucus said in his letter. "As you know, many CARD patients are also eligible for Medicare. CARD would be helped significantly if it could receive reimbursement for these patients' claims from Medicare, rather than being forced to further deplete LAMP funds."

Libby area residents suffer from asbestos-related disease at a rate 40 to 60 times the national average and they suffer from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma at a rate of 100 times the national average, according to federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Until 1990, Libby residents were exposed to harmful tremolite asbestos from the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine. and mill operations.