A new bill was approved by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee that could damage the asbestos claims process and prevent victims of asbestos-related diseases from ever seeing any sort of monetary compensation before they pass. The legislation is “H.R. 906” and is referred to as the “Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency Act.”
If this bill is passed, asbestos trusts would be required to file quarterly reports for each payout. Personal information from those seeking compensation would be available in databases and easily accessible by anyone in the public. This causes great concern for advocacy groups for asbestos victims who claim that not only would this slow down the asbestos compensation process, it would directly make victims susceptible to identity theft as they would now be required to provide work histories, compensation amounts, and even partial social security numbers.
Billions of dollars for asbestos trusts have been established by U.S. Bankruptcy laws so that companies can pay their victims and still move forward with their business. Asbestos trust representatives are concerned about the tens of thousands of dollars it will potentially cost to continually compile these reports. This money will have to come out of the money that is set aside to pay those who have been injured by asbestos and deserve compensation.
President Trump vowed to finally put the working men and women of America first. However, this legislation puts the asbestos industry ahead of the working men and women. Don’t let the travesty of being injured by asbestos be compounded by having your due compensation be denied. Make your voice heard today – tomorrow is too late.
This national legislation pending will negatively affect your asbestos claim. It is incredibly important that you contact your Senators for your District today and tell them that you oppose this legislation.
Call your elected officials today to tell them to protect asbestos victims’ rights to prompt compensation and privacy. Find your representatives and congressional leaders.
