Bipartisan Congressional Delegation Fights for World Trade Center Health Program

A bipartisan Congressional delegation recently introduced legislation to increase funding for the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, providing security for more than 400,000 9/11 first responders and survivors and their families.

Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, and Congressman Andrew Garbarino and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are the lead sponsors of the “9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act.”

Once enacted, the bill would revise the program’s formula to provide adequate funds for comprehensive health care for all 9/11-related illnesses until 2090.

In addition, the bill would create a research program to study the impact of the toxic exposures and psychological trauma on the 35,000 people who were children on 9/11 and were living or attending school or daycare in Lower Manhattan.

The health program provides medical treatment and monitoring for more than 100,000 responders and survivors from the World Trade Center and Lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and the Shanksville, PA, crash site.

Currently, the health program covers 68 types of cancer, as well as many respiratory illnesses. And the program is regularly studying its data to determine additional illnesses that should be covered. 

Barasch & McGarry has advocated for the federal government to fully fund both the health program and the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF).

If you were there in Lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, or Shanksville on or after 9/11, we urge you to register with the WTC Health Program and the VCF – even if you are currently healthy. 

By registering, you protect your right to access free health care and register a claim with the Victim Compensation Fund in the future.

For more information, call us at 212-385-8000 or visit 911victims.com. The full list of cosponsors for the “9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act” is available here.