CLAIMANTS' ADVISORY COMMITTEE E-NEWSLETTER
Dow Corning Bankruptcy Settlement
Volume 12, No. 3, May 4, 2015
Contact the CAC at: info@tortcomm.org or
phone: (419) 394-0717
fax: (419) 394-1748
Sybil Niden Goldrich
Ernest Hornsby, Esq
Dianna Pendleton-Dominguez, Esq.
This is the 121st e-newsletter (Vol. 12, No. 3) from the Claimants' Advisory Committee (CAC) in the Dow Corning bankruptcy Settlement Plan. You were sent a copy of the newsletter because our records show that you requested to be on the mailing list. If you wish to unsubscribe, click here or to reply to this newsletter, send an email to: info@tortcomm.org. Please do not hit "Reply" to this email address. To contact the CAC, use the email address: info@tortcomm.org or dpend440@aol.com. You can also contact the CAC directly at 419-394-0717.
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THE MDL-926 COMMON BENEFIT TRUST HAS ESTABLISHED TWO NEW PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN IN NEED OF BREAST IMPLANT REMOVAL SURGERY
Please read the following information carefully. The program discussed below is NOT part of the Dow Corning Settlement Plan. We are providing this information to claimants and law firms as a courtesy. If you have already received an Explant and/or Rupture Payment from either the Dow Corning Settlement Plan or the Revised Settlement Program, then this program does NOT apply to you.
Also, DO NOT SEND ANY DOCUMENTS FOR THIS PROGRAM TO THE SF-DCT OR CAC AND DO NOT CALL THE SF-DCT OR CAC FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM. PLEASE READ THIS INFORMATION CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.
The MDL-926 Explant Financial Assistance Program
The MDL-926 Common Benefit Trust has established a program to provide financial assistance to eligible women in need of explantation surgery. This assistance will be in the form of a direct payment of up to $5,000 to the plastic surgeon who performs the removal surgery.
To be eligible, you:
1) must have at least one silicone gel-filled or double lumen type breast implant in your body that was implanted before June 1, 1993, and
2) can document that the implant is ruptured or that it is otherwise medically necessary that it be removed, and
3) are not currently eligible, to the best of your knowledge, to receive Medicare or Medicaid benefits, and you will not be eligible for Medicare within the next year, and
4) do not have private health insurance that will cover the explantation of the breast implant(s), or within the past two years your request to a private insurance company to pre-approve coverage for explantation of the breast implant(s) has been denied, and
5) are not able to pay for the explant surgery, and
6) have not received any rupture or explantation benefit from the MDL 926 Revised Settlement Program (‘RSP') or the Dow Corning Settlement Program, and
7) did not enter into a settlement agreement with, or obtain a court judgment against, the manufacturer of your breast implants, and
8) are willing to agree that you will not replace your breast implant(s) with new one(s) containing silicone gel.
If you satisfy each of the above requirements, you may be eligible for up to $5,000 in financial assistance for explantation surgery.
Beginning April 8, 2015, a Notice of Interest Form is available for download at www.oplc.org, or upon request from the Program Administrator, James J. Condra. Mr. Condra may be reached at (205)252-6784 or at jcondra@oplc.org. Frequently Asked Questions about the program are posted at www.oplc.org. Please note that this program has limited available funds and may be modified or terminated at any time.
Again, DO NOT SEND ANY DOCUMENTS TO THE SF-DCT OR THE CAC OR CALL EITHER OF THESE OFFICES ABOUT THE PROGRAM. THE MDL-926 PROGRAM IS NOT AFFILIATED IN ANY WAY WITH THE DOW CORNING SETTLEMENT PLAN.
The Insurance Coverage Assistance Program
If you are in need of explant surgery, but you have or may be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance coverage, the Insurance Coverage Assistance Program will be available to provide advice and assistance on how to assess this coverage. This program is to be operated by the National Center for Health Research, a consumer-oriented non-profit group in Washington, D.C., that has helped women seek insurance coverage for breast implant removal. The National Center currently operates the breastimplantinfo.org website. You may email them at info@breastimplantinfo.org with your name and email address for more information, including their toll-free number. If you do not have access to email, you can call them at 202-223-4000.
This program is not affiliated with the Dow Corning Settlement Facility or Settlement Plan. The CAC is providing information about this resource as a courtesy to claimants who may need help accessing their insurance coverage. The Insurance Coverage Assistance Program cannot help claimants with their claims in the Dow Corning Settlement Plan because the deadline to submit a claim for Explantation expired in June 2014.
REMINDER: PLEASE KEEP YOUR ADDRESS AND CONTACT INFORMATION CURRENT WITH THE SF-DCT
Please remember to keep your contact information current with the SF-DCT, including any information about probate, attorney representation, and address / phone number / email address. Thousands and thousands of checks and award letters are returned to the SF-DCT every year because a claimant has moved and failed to update her new address with the SF-DCT. Do not assume that the Post Office will forward mail to you. They provide this forwarding service for a limited time; when that time has expired, the Post Office returns the mail to the sender and does not provide a forwarding address.
There are many other claimants who have an approved claim for payment, but the SF-DCT cannot locate them. If you move, make sure you notify the SF-DCT. Their contact information is:
SF-DCT or by email: info@sfdct.com
P.O. Box 52429 or by phone: 1-866-874-6099
Houston, TX 77052-2429
If you have any question about your claim or its status, please contact the Settlement Facility. The CAC does not have access to individual claimant files, so we cannot answer your questions about your claim details.
EXPEDITED RELEASE PAYMENTS
The Settlement Plan provides that any claimant who has acceptable proof that she had or has a Dow Corning breast implant is eligible to receive either a Disease Payment or an Expedited Release Payment. The deadline to file a claim for Disease or Expedited Release is June 3, 2019. If you decide to forego applying for a Disease Payment and you want to accept the Expedited Release Payment, simply complete and return the Disease/Expedited Release claim form and submit it to the Settlement Facility. For claimants in Class 5 (U.S.), the Expedited Release Payment is $2,000. For claimants in Class 6.1, the payment is $1,200, and for claimants in Class 6.2, the payment is $700. Remember, you must first submit and have your Proof of Manufacturer determined as acceptable, and, if you request and accept the Expedited Release Payment, this forever settles your Disease claim and you will not be eligible for any further Disease benefits (including Premium Payments on the Disease claim) in the future.
The Disease / Expedited Release claim form is available on the CAC website (www.tortcomm.org) or on the SF-DCT website (www.sfdct.com/_sfdct/index.cfm/how-to-file-a-claim-for-benefits/claim-forms-by-class/). The Proof of Manufacturer form is also available on these websites.
DEADLINE REMINDERS
Please mark your calendar with the following claim submission deadlines. Please note that these deadlines mean that your claim forms and materials must be received by the SF-DCT by the posted deadline. Please mail all forms early enough so that they are received by the deadline listed below.
|
Deadline Date |
Type of Deadline |
|
June 3, 2019 |
Disease or Expedited Release Claim submission deadline for all claims in Classes 5, 6.1 and 6.2 (this deadline does NOT apply to Late Claimants) |
If you would like to read prior CAC e-newsletters, they are available on the CAC website by clicking on "Electronic Newsletter." We urge you to visit the CAC website (www.tortcomm.org) on a regular basis to download or view relevant documents and read updates and new information. To contact the CAC, send an email to:info@tortcomm.org or send a letter to the Post Office Box address for the CAC at:
Claimants' Advisory Committee
P.O. Box 665
St. Marys, Ohio 45885
Phone Number: (419) 394-0717
Fax Number: (419) 394-1748
Email: info@tortcomm.org
NOTICE: This document is copyrighted. You are not authorized to post it on any website without express, prior written permission of the Claimants' Advisory Committee.