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Financial Assistance: Disability Insurance
Following a malignant mesothelioma diagnosis, patients who are still working may be able to utilize disability insurance coverage that is being offered by their employer. However, the process is sometimes made more complicated by companies that are unable, or unwilling, to accept mesothelioma as an illness that qualifies for coverage.
A great number of mesothelioma victims have been able to attribute the likely cause of their diagnosis to be from asbestos exposure they experienced while serving in the United States armed forces. As of 2003, 26 percent of all mesothelioma cancer cases were former military or naval shipyard workers.
However, while those who have served are eligible to apply for Veterans Affairs health and disability benefits, they are not afforded access to any Special Benefits programs. The reasoning for that is because, unlike Gulf War Illness and Agent Orange exposure, Veterans Affairs does not consider mesothelioma or any illness related to asbestos inhalation as a “service connected” medical condition.
Additionally, those who worked for companies that allowed asbestos to be exposed to their workers and have since run into health problems have also found it difficult in some instances to get the additional coverage they may need.
One such case in which a patient with mesothelioma has run into trouble regarding their disability payment occurred in 2009 out in Charleston, West Virginia. After working at Union Carbide for 40 years and regularly inhaling asbestos fibers, Gordon Conley was diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer and awarded a compensatory sum that also made him eligible for disability payments. Handled by Wells Fargo Disability Management, the payments were scheduled to be paid out over the course of a multi-year period.
However, due to the average lifespan of a mesothelioma patient, which averages anywhere from one year to 18 months, a restructuring of the payment plan was requested but ignored by Wells Fargo for three months, at which time the only response was that the request was still under review. While the payments would still go to Conley’s wife in the event of death, delays in payment and a lack of compassion in any disability insurance ruling may be something that families will have to deal with.
Those who were regularly exposed to asbestos products while working for a company or armed forces may be entitled to a substantial mesothelioma settlement if they develop the illness and can link the employer to being a source of exposure. Contact a mesothelioma attorney if you have any questions about laws surrounding mesothelioma or asbestos exposure and would like to see if a lawsuit is possible.
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