Press Release
 

$90 Billion C.B.O. Estimating Error Found

Bates White Research Firm Finds Critical Asbestos Bill Error

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Bates White research firm has found a $90 billion error in the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) analysis of the cost of the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2005 (FAIR Act). This critical error made by the CBO should make Senators rethink their support of this dubious legislation.

Bates White demonstrates that the numbers CBO presents in its own report lead to more than 200,000 claimants who will qualify for lung and other cancer claims (Level VI and Level VII). These claimants represent more than $90 billion in additional costs. Specifically, CBO asserts that 1.5 million individuals will receive compensation for non-malignant conditions, meaning they have bilateral pleural disease and five or more years of exposure. National cancer incidence rates establish that more than 200,000 of these claimants will develop lung or other cancer. Yet, CBO estimates that only 28,000 (14 percent) will file Level VI and Level VII claims.

"CBO is asking Senators to believe that 86 percent of qualifying claimants who took the trouble to sign up for medical monitoring would not file the paper work to collect their $200,000 to $800,000 entitlement. This is not credible. After all, the purpose of medical monitoring is to provide early detection of these and other diseases." Charles Bates, one of the authors of the Bates White report, also states that "accounting for the additional cancer costs for claimants already included in the CBO forecast shows the CBO 'cost' estimate should be over $210 billion, even without the other costs that CBO erroneously excludes."

Bates White goes on to show that the CBO "cost" estimate excludes several key expenditure categories that increase the cost of the FAIR Act by more than $50 billion. CBO acknowledges these costs exist, but excludes them from its estimate. Combining the excluded expenditure categories with the additional cancer costs shows that the CBO "cost" estimate should be over $260 billion. The statutory funding level of the national Trust is $140 billion. This shortfall means the Fund would be bankrupted and forced to sunset two to three years after its enactment.

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The Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims (CPMV) is an organization founded by asbestos victims and their families and friends. CPMV works to raise awareness on national asbestos issues and ensure that victims' rights are properly represented and protected on both a local and national level. For more information, www.asbestostruth.org.