Posted on 10/25/2007 12:47:48 PM PDT by pitinkie
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Almost three months after the deadly bridge collapse crushed her legs, Mercedes Gorden said her medical bills are approaching $300,000.
Gorden and other survivors - along with relatives of two people who died in the collapse - want state lawmakers to create a compensation fund modeled on the 9/11 fund established by Congress after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The disaster victim compensation fund proposed by Rep. Ryan Winkler of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, would cover medical costs, economic losses and pain and suffering. Collapse survivors who accepted a settlement from the fund would give up their right to sue the state.
Winkler said the fund is needed because Minnesota law caps the state's liability at $1 million per incident and $300,000 per individual. He and Rep. Phyllis Kahn, also of the DFL, said the total cost would be a small percentage of the estimated bridge recovery and reconstruction costs, which are close to $400 million.
"One thing that we can do is make sure that failure of this bridge is not a financial burden on these individuals," Winkler said at a hearing of the House State Government Finance Committee at the American Red Cross in Minneapolis.
Action on the bill probably won't happen before the Legislature reconvenes in February, unless Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty calls a special session, which is unlikely.
He said medical bills for some individuals alone will easily top $1 million.
Testimony from survivors and family members outlined the human side of the losses.
Jennifer Holmes cried when she talked about her husband, Patrick Holmes, who died in the collapse. She said she notices his absence in little things, like doing laundry and errands, to bigger issues like saving for their two children's future.
(Excerpt) Read more at att.net ...
Look what happened with Katrina. Somewhere on this forum, a while back, there was a per capita estimate of what was paid out to New Orleans and its denizens.
I'd still love to see where all that money ended up. Rep William Jefferson (D) had to divert emergency personnel, during the emergency, to take care of a little 'personal business' at his N.O. residence.
* I wonder if he thought the electricity being off would cause some of his "frozen assets" to thaw out and somehow spoil. (Or more likely, be 'salvaged' by looters).
This is just more voting buying and pandering by the DFL.
Seriously, government needs to get out of the charity business.
I agree. I honestly don’t think the airlines were negligent. If I recall correctly, that was the reason for the fund; to prevent those two airlines from going bankrupt. I don’t know how NY courts work though. In most places the families would probably get a settlement offer, and most of their attorneys would have urged them to take it.
<>I think it is a tragedy that those people got so much money, and the families of those that died in Iraq and Afghanistan get a pittance.
>>want state lawmakers to create a compensation fund modeled on the 9/11 fund established by Congress after the 2001 terrorist attacks.<<
Yep, I knew this was coming as soon as I heard that the families of the 9/11 victims were getting compensation from the government. This, I suppose, is the difference between being a liberal and being conservative. I think we all agree that tragedies like 9/11 are horrific, but the liberal simply acts without thinking about the consequences. The conservative considers the ramifications of their actions. It is reasonable that once you give 9/11 families money that others will start to line up, and there is no shortage of tragedies in this world.
Here we go.
No it wouldn’t bridges are inspected and certified routinely, its not remotely a stretch to find negligence in this case. Accidents do happen, but for this to have happened, required a string of negligence.
“I think it is a tragedy that those people got so much money, and the families of those that died in Iraq and Afghanistan get a pittance.”
I whole heartedly agree. Though some could argue that the military volunteers and knows what the hazards are when they sign up.
Agree!
It’s called living responsibly.
The problem is we should NOT have had a fund for 9/11 victims paid by the GOVERNMENT. We didn’t have one when Timothy McVeigh went nuts .... . People are being conditioned to use EMOTION to get money out of the government.
As if society hasn’t already made provisions for people who fall on hard times. I mean no offense, and I’m genuinely sorry about the incident, and loss of life, but haven’t the Democrats invested the entirety of the last FIFTY YEARS building all manner of social “safety nets” to help people in these kinds of times of need???
Or, maybe it’s simply that people who have never had to rely on “the system” just plain suck at figuring out how to access it.
The airline industry might've been wiped out if many of those survivors had opted to sue, rather than agree to accept the taxpayer-funded compensation.
Sorry for the people who lost loved ones, but there's nothing like this at stake here.
I’m sorry these people are having troubles due to the bridge collapse. People have accidents and die everyday and don’t always look for someone else to pay their bills.
The state should pay for medical bills over and beyond what their car insurance covered. The state was negligent in allowing that bridge to get into the dangerous shape that it was in. But, I don’t believe that children’s education and payments to the spouse for wages lost should be doled out on a whim.
“The 9/11 fund was an atrocity that should never be repeated.”
Especially since I do not remember any similar offered to the victims of Oklahoma City. The rationale behind this surprised me - were the AIRLINES responsible for airport security?
And if they are inspected routinely, and pass routinely, and still fall down? File a lawsuit against the Vatican as your beef is between you and God.
They ALL needed 2 million dollars? I think that was the last number I heard. Here is the problem, some people will say “Why should I buy life insurance if the Govt will pick up the tab?” So they will opt out. As more and more opt out to suck on the Govt tit, the insurance companies will go belly up. So more will then be FORCED to get the Govt plan. This is also the template for health insurance.
Does anyone really believe our economy can support paying for 300 million people’s health cost plus death benefits, plus, plus...........?
I don’t.
I would say that the State can pay for only the medical bills..
They fall down because of negligence and graft.. someone screwed up, in fact LOTS of people screwed up... I guarantee you the final report will find many instances and fault that lead to this collapse.
Just because someone signed the form, doesn’t mean they did the work.... if you think so, then explain too me the B52 flying with armed warheads over the country a few weeks back....
Negligence is not an accident, or an act of god.
That money didn't just go to New Orleans but it covered the damages from three storms from Texas to Florida.
Well if the bridge collapsed due to negligence and people are suffering due to that negligence, then yes legally those responsible have an obligation to “make them whole”. So, if your dead now and your family is suffering because your income is lost, then that’s a liability the negligent party is responsible for.
I have no issue with the state and the contractor and everyone else having their feet held to the fire for this, I have no doubt at all that there was enough malfeasance and negligence to go around on this one. Those parties responsible should be on the hook for the damages they have done.
However, it still doesn’t remove the personal responsibility of a parent to not carry insurance. Life insurance generally is some of the cheapest you can buy, and so even if you wind up killed in such an event, and your family or survivors do get a payout from it eventually, they are not dependent on it to live. My wife doesn’t work, but we still have a very good policy on her. Even though she isn’t a direct income provider for our family, her being at home allows me to focus on that, without her at home, expenses like day care, and other issues would appear, that could harm us financially. So even if something god forbid would happen to her, I know that her death would not financially cause issues with me being able to work, and have good care for the children, etc etc.
I think the state saying we can only be held completely liable for 1 Million total for the entire incident, when in this day and age something like a bridge collapsing, is morally repugnant. This law needs reviewed and updated and adjusted to inflation going forward.
No, this article referred, very specifically, to the money allocated to New Orleans, alone.
I've been thru six hurricanes from Camille in 1969 to the more recent hurricanes we have had here in Florida. The end results of Katrina were caused more by greedy politicians and flood control money being wasted than anything else.
Thus the "Big Easy" became the "Big Baby".
More proof that there is NO shortage of lawyers in this country.
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