Zadroga Act Allowed to Expire; Benefits Have Year to Run
The Zadroga Act officially expired at midnight on Oct. 1, leaving ill Sept. 11 responders and survivors with just a year left to receive free health benefits unless Congress belatedly renews the bill.
The World Trade Center Health Program monitors and treats tens of thousands of victims sickened or injured by the terrorist attacks 14 years ago. Congress has failed to reauthorize that program and the Victim Compensation Fund, which covers economic losses from 9/11 illness.
Can Spend What’s There
The law allows the $4.2 billion already allocated for both programs to be spent over the next year, and officials believe the money would last that long. But in pleas to lawmakers and supporters, advocates last week emphasized that waiting would be devastating for patients.
Survivors will begin to see their services curbed as early as this winter, according to Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, a union-backed nonprofit.
The group released a timeline showing that over the winter, the Health Program would begin to lose its ability to retain doctors and support staff if the bill wasn’t renewed, as some began seeking more-permanent jobs.
By spring, patients would be advised to begin searching for other doctors and health insurance, and by the summer, the program would begin shutting down.
Calling the Oct. 1 deadline “the beginning of the end” of Zadroga, Uniformed Firefighters Association Vice President James Slevin, a Citizens board member, said, “This is no way to treat people or to govern. Heroes who have PTSD because they served their nation in a time of war should not have to fear losing their health care.”
‘Won’t Stop Being Sick’
U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Peter King, who introduced a bill that would make the benefits permanent, co-authored an opinion piece in The Hill Sept. 30 reminding their colleagues of the human faces behind the health program.
They recalled the trials of Ray Pfeifer, a Firefighter who worked every day in rescue and recovery efforts from Sept. 11 until May 2002. He now has Stage 4 renal cancer. Nicholas Polesino worked to restore power around the Trade Center site; he now requires 22 medications for several life-threatening diseases. Barbara Burnette, a retired NYPD Detective, has progressive lung disease and needed a wheelchair when traveling between Congressional offices last month.
“These men and women won’t suddenly stop being sick when the programs expire,” the Members of Congress wrote. “The costs of their medication or of the time off from work won’t suddenly stop because Congress failed to act.”
The legislators are hoping to nudge House committee leaders to advance the bill onto the floor for a vote. Both the House and Senate versions “have broad bipartisan support, and, if Congress voted on this legislation today, it would surely pass,” they wrote.
Potential Pitfalls
Though the extension bill is expected to be approved, it could face attempts to limit its timespan and cost. If it does not pass, monetary awards to survivors and first-responders could also be capped. Recipients could get as little as 50 percent of their awards, as Victim Compensation Fund Special Master Sheila Birnbaum limits each payout so that all deserving parties get a share.
As of last week, 4,166 Sept. 11-related cancers had been certified by doctors. Eighty-five police officers and at least 110 firefighters had died of related illness, and 12,150 had been approved for VCF payments.
State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento urged Congress to take action, writing in a statement, “We cannot allow members of Congress to turn their backs on the brave men and women who risked their own lives on that horrific day, and the men and women who were injured or became ill after being exposed to toxins at Ground Zero.”
Chief Leader - October 06, 2015
by SARAH DORSEYThe World Trade Center Health Program monitors and treats tens of thousands of victims sickened or injured by the terrorist attacks 14 years ago. Congress has failed to reauthorize that program and the Victim Compensation Fund, which covers economic losses from 9/11 illness.
Can Spend What’s There
The law allows the $4.2 billion already allocated for both programs to be spent over the next year, and officials believe the money would last that long. But in pleas to lawmakers and supporters, advocates last week emphasized that waiting would be devastating for patients.
Survivors will begin to see their services curbed as early as this winter, according to Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, a union-backed nonprofit.
The group released a timeline showing that over the winter, the Health Program would begin to lose its ability to retain doctors and support staff if the bill wasn’t renewed, as some began seeking more-permanent jobs.
By spring, patients would be advised to begin searching for other doctors and health insurance, and by the summer, the program would begin shutting down.
Calling the Oct. 1 deadline “the beginning of the end” of Zadroga, Uniformed Firefighters Association Vice President James Slevin, a Citizens board member, said, “This is no way to treat people or to govern. Heroes who have PTSD because they served their nation in a time of war should not have to fear losing their health care.”
‘Won’t Stop Being Sick’
U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Peter King, who introduced a bill that would make the benefits permanent, co-authored an opinion piece in The Hill Sept. 30 reminding their colleagues of the human faces behind the health program.
They recalled the trials of Ray Pfeifer, a Firefighter who worked every day in rescue and recovery efforts from Sept. 11 until May 2002. He now has Stage 4 renal cancer. Nicholas Polesino worked to restore power around the Trade Center site; he now requires 22 medications for several life-threatening diseases. Barbara Burnette, a retired NYPD Detective, has progressive lung disease and needed a wheelchair when traveling between Congressional offices last month.
“These men and women won’t suddenly stop being sick when the programs expire,” the Members of Congress wrote. “The costs of their medication or of the time off from work won’t suddenly stop because Congress failed to act.”
The legislators are hoping to nudge House committee leaders to advance the bill onto the floor for a vote. Both the House and Senate versions “have broad bipartisan support, and, if Congress voted on this legislation today, it would surely pass,” they wrote.
Potential Pitfalls
Though the extension bill is expected to be approved, it could face attempts to limit its timespan and cost. If it does not pass, monetary awards to survivors and first-responders could also be capped. Recipients could get as little as 50 percent of their awards, as Victim Compensation Fund Special Master Sheila Birnbaum limits each payout so that all deserving parties get a share.
As of last week, 4,166 Sept. 11-related cancers had been certified by doctors. Eighty-five police officers and at least 110 firefighters had died of related illness, and 12,150 had been approved for VCF payments.
State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento urged Congress to take action, writing in a statement, “We cannot allow members of Congress to turn their backs on the brave men and women who risked their own lives on that horrific day, and the men and women who were injured or became ill after being exposed to toxins at Ground Zero.”
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