The World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) will start turning away survivors and first responders of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks if a new bill securing more funding is not passed, a bipartisan group of New York Congress members said on Monday.
State Congressional leaders, including U.S. Reps. Dan Goldman, (D-Manhattan-Brooklyn) and Andrew Garbarino (R-Long Island) held a press conference in Washington, DC on July 29 to introduce the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act of 2024. The bill, if put into law, would provide permanent and mandatory funding for the WTCHP to ensure surviving 9/11 victims get the care they need.
The WTCHP was established by Congress in 2011 and to provide medical monitoring and care for those who have 9/11-related health conditions. It was reauthorized in 2015 and extended through 2090 with bipartisan support. Along the way, lawmakers gave $1 billion to the fund in 2022, and secured an additional $676 million in 2023.
But the recent funding is not enough to keep up with the anticipated costs of providing services, lawmakers said — and the program now faces a projected funding shortfall.
Congress members said the bill would provide funding to prevent cuts in services; deal with program deficits over the next 10 years; and increase funding for research. It would also fix a funding formula after FY2034 to ensure adequate funding in the future for the life of the program till it expires in 2090.
Without such action, lawmakers warned, the WTCHP will have to make cuts to services starting in 2028, even turning away new responders and survivors who become sick from 9/11-related illness.
“It’s our responsibility to pass the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act in order to ensure that those suffering from medical problems arising from the attack receive the health care they need and deserve,” Goldman said.
The Congress Member also recounted the tragic events that took place in Lower Manhattan that day.
“I will never forget the scenes of devastation, destruction, and heroism I witnessed while living in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11,” Goldman said. “We owe a permanent debt of gratitude to the courageous first responders, survivors, and residents who rebuilt our city in the months and years that followed.”
“Fix the issue once and for all”
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) said she is “confident” the bill will pass.
“Yet again, we are introducing a bill to fix a projected funding shortfall in the World Trade Center Health Program,” she said. “It’s time to fix this issue once and for all. 9/11 first responders and survivors need guaranteed health care, period. Our bill provides permanent and mandatory funding for the WTCHP so that no 9/11 hero has to worry about losing coverage year after year.”
The program covers the lifespans of all exposed to the toxic dust and debris that resulted from the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
These victims include responders and survivors of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the Shanksville crash site, children who were in schools in Downtown Manhattan on 9/11 and during the clean-up, and those who have since experienced or are expected to experience, adverse health effects linked to the attacks in coming years.
Phil Alvarez, a 9/11 advocate who lost his brother, NYPD Det. Lou Alvarez, due to 9/11-related cancer, was at the press conference and thanked the politicians for their efforts.
“Today, I applaud Congressman Garbarino and Senator Gillibrand and others that are working together and trying to make sure those that those that are sick and dying from 9/11 exposures never have to make that trip again,” he said. “On behalf of the Alvarez family, I offer our gratitude, never forget Lou Alvarez and our 9/11 heroes.”
