Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 123, Greencastle, Putnam County, 23 January 1985 — Page 2
A2
The Putnam County Banner-Graphic, January 23,1905
Labor panel approves bill to extend claim period for asbestosis
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) A bill that would broaden workmen’s compensation coverage for victims of the lung disease asbestosis is on its way to the Indiana House after approval in committee. The House Labor Committee voted 1(H) Tuesday in favor of House Bill 1171, sponsored by Rep. Gene Leeuw, RIndianapolis. Under current law, workers have three years from the date of their last exposure to asbestos fibers to file a claim for benefits. However, asbestosis takes upwards of 10 years to develop, which means ~ that afflicted workers often are left without the possibility of recovering for their disability.
state
Nursing care costs
borne by offspring?
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Requiring adults to help pay their parents’ nursing home expenses would cut the state’s health-care costs and strengthen ties within the family, Sen. William Costas, RValparaiso, says. “This helps us go back to the old adage of caring for our families in what is now an impersonal world,” Costas said of his bill to require sons and daughters to pay from $1 to $lO toward their parents’ nursing home costs. The Senate Health, Welfare and Aging Committee approved the bill by an 8-1 vote Tuesday. The bill now goes to the full Senate. Senate Bill 504 would require the payments from adults 21 or older with annual adjusted gross incomes of $25,000 or more. The payments, which would be sent to the Indiana Department of Public Welfare, would be required only when the parent was receiving assistance under the federal Medicaid program. Costas said his bill is intended to “help the state pay for room and board” of nursing home patients and “to minimize the cost (to the state) of health care.” Costas said that if 50 percent of the residents’ sons and daughters paid the $1 fee, the annual statewide total of-payments
Cause of train collision
GARY, Ind. (AP) A team of federal investigators expects to complete its investigation of the head-on collision of two South Shore commuter trains by Friday, a spokesman said. Investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the scene just west of Gary Tuesday afternoon, said Jim Finan, an investigator at the board’s Chicago office. Finan said the NTSB’s investigative team would remain about three days and then present its preliminary report to officials in Washington. He said the team was sent from Washington and was attempting to learn whether Monday’s rush-hour crash which injured 86 people was the result of mechanical or human error. The trains, part of an electric railroad operating between South Bend and Chicago, were both moving at the time of the accident, Finan said. He said they were sharing the track usually reserved for eastbound traffic because sub-zero weather had damaged overhead electrical lines on the westbound track.
Bth District recount over
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) Election officials have completed a six-week recount of the disputed- Bth District congressional election, but the race remains far from settled. Frank McCloskey trailed Republican challenger Rick Mclntyre by 418 votes districtwide in unofficial totals Tuesday following completion of the last recount in Warrick County, where McCloskey picked up 80 votes. Election officials said it could be next week before the results are certified as official. In the meantime, Mclntyre said he will press the House again to swear him in as the district’s congressman. The Democratic-controlled House refused to let Mclntyre take office pending an election contest McCloskey is pursuing before the Administration Committee. “The ballots have been recounted and the results show conclusively that I am the winner,” said Mclntyre, a former state representative who was originally cer-
The bill extends the claim deadline to 20 years after the date of the last exposure. It also creates a “residual asbestos injury fund” to compensate asbestosis victims who are now disabled or who will become disabled because of an exposure to asbestos prior to July 1, 1985 the effective date of the proposed statute. Victims who already are disabled by asbestosis will have until Jan. 1,1986 to file a claim for benefits. Workers who become disabled because of exposure to asbestos after July 1 would be covered by the regular workmen’s compensation law, if this bill is enacted. The fund will be financed by a tax on insurance carriers and self-insured em-
would be $6.3 million. The total would rise to $63 million if 50 percent paid the $lO daily fee, he said. The payments would go into state’s general fund to make up a portion of the state’s Medicaid costs, Costas said. The federal government pays about 60 percent of Medicaid costs, and the state pays about 40 percent. The state’s budget for Medicaid assistance and administration during fiscal 1985 is $299.6 million, said Thomas Quarto, director of research and statistics for the welfare department. Of that amount, $155.7 million will go for nursing home costs. The Department of Welfare would determine the payment schedules under the bill, Costas said. An adult earning $25,000 annually would pay the $1 per day charge, while someone earning SIOO,OOO or more per year would be required to pay the $lO maximum. A person could appeal the reasonableness of the payment schedule assigned by the welfare department, Costas said. An adult could pay the fee only for one parent, but several siblings could pay fees for the same parent, Costas said. The total of the payments couldn’t exceed the cost of the parent’s nursing home care
Finan said the trains were under a 25-mile-an-hour speed restriction because only one track was being used. He said the westbound train had just pulled out of Gary and may not have been at full speed. “Both engineers broke (applied their brakes) and the impact speed was probably much less than 25 miles an hour,” he said. Gary Fire Chief Bobby Joiner said rescue crews had to use crowbars to free some passengers from the wreckage. Eleven people were admitted to three area hospitals. All those hospitalized from the wreck were reported in good condition Tuesday, officials said. The engineers on both trains underwent toxicological tests voluntarily Monday evening, said Finan. He said the tests, used to determine if drug use contributed to the accident, are not required by law but are becoming increasingly routine after railroad accidents. Finan said Tuesday he did not know results of the tests.
tified the winner by 34 votes. “It is only fair that I be seated immediately and allowed to represent the people who elected me,” he said at a Washington news conference. McCloskey countered that the recount was flawed because some counties rejected thousands of ballots for technical reasons while other counties included them in their totals. McCloskey said Mclntyre “is apparently comfortable with thousands of people being disenfranchised for spurious and technical reasons.” “He well knows that inconsistent and arbitrary rules have been applied, and that a recount under uniform rules will likely make me the winner,” said McCloskey, who was mayor of Bloomington before winning the seat in 1982. McCloskey said the Administration Committee can conduct an independent recount by March 1, and that the House should wait for its findings before deciding which candidate to seat.
ployers. The tax will be in effect until the fund balance reaches $200,000. It will be reinstated when the balance drops to $50,000. Efforts to broaden compensation coverage for asbestosis victims have failed in past sessions. But Leeuw said his bill addresses employers’ concerns about their being made retroactively liable for asbestosis victims and the source of funding for the benefits. “I think it’s kind of a conscience thing over the years,” said Leeuw. “There’s no question that people have very serious diseases because of exposure to things in the workplace.” In other committee action Tuesday,
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House Courts and Criminal Code Committee considered a bill that would allow judges to require convicted criminals to pay their share of the prosecution costs. No vote was taken. Rep. Jeffrey K. Espich, R-Uniondale, the sponsor of H.B. 1206, said it was designed to ensure that convicted defendants “pay as much as their own way in the prosecution of their cases as possible.” A judge could consider not only a defendant’s present financial resources but also his prospects for future wealth, Espich said. Rep. Richard D. Bray, R-Martinsville, the committee chairman and bill cosonsor, said judges often automatically ap-
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point pauper counsel for a defendant who claims he is indigent before conducting a thorough check of his finances. “He may have his Rolls Royce parked out in front of the jail,” Bray said. Rep. Jesse Villalpando, D-Gary, said he was concerned that the measure might chill defendants’ desire for counsel if they know they might be forced to pay for it. The Senate Health, Welfare and Aging Committee delayed a vote on a bill that would require physicians to tell patients about all alternatives to elective surgery. Sen. John R. Sinks, R-Fort Wayne, said Senate Bill 47 was suggested by one of his constituents who underwent radical breast surgery but later concluded that radiation
would have been a reasonable alternative treatment. Sinks said doctors should be required to discuss “diagnostic and therapeutic alternatives” that take into account the preferences and cosmetic concerns of patients. The requirement is needed because too many patients are afraid to question the judgment of their doctors when they suggest a specific type of treatment, Sinks said. Richard King of the Indiana State Medical Association said the bill could lead to an increase in medical liability and health costs.
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