Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Fund For 9/11 First Responders And Survivors Is Falling Short
New York Post: Schumer Vows To Seek $3B For Troubled Ground Zero Health Fund
Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday that he will push Congress for a $3 billion infusion of federal cash to rescue the financially troubled 9/11 health-care fund. The New York Democrat and Senate majority leader said he will seek to secure the funds in the federal budget to offset the expected shortfall in the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical care and services for first responders and others affected by the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. (Schnitzer and Fitz-Gibbon, 9/11)
NBC News: A Health Care Program For 9/11 Survivors And First Responders Is Running Short Of Money
If the funding shortfall is not addressed, the program will not be able to accommodate any new members starting October 2024, according to a letter from Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York and 11 other GOP House members to the Democratic chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. “If Congress does not quickly address this impending crisis, then the men and women who put their lives on the line and who survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks will lose health coverage to treat the physical and mental illnesses that they sustained on that fateful day,” reads the Sept. 8 letter to Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey. (Salam and Abou-Sabe, 9/9)
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WFLA: Health Care Problems Persist For Tampa Bay 9/11 Survivors Enrolled In Troubled Government Program
Bradenton’s Garret Lindgren, a retired New York City firefighter, has been receiving care from the World Trade Center Health Program for a long list of ailments. Lindgren said the program has helped treat several medical problems, but other claims involving a shoulder injury have been denied. Lindgren also suffers from toxic neuropathy, a type nerve damage caused by harmful substances that is not covered. (Buteau, 9/11)
Fortune: Uterine Cancer Is Close To Being Recognized As A 9/11-Related Illness
The World Trade Center Health Program recognizes dozens of conditions related to 9/11 and assists with their monitoring and treatment. Now, 21 years later, uterine cancer remains the only cancer that has not been recognized as one of them. Many of the 9/11-related illnesses, like lung cancer, correspond to those experienced by first responders, who are primarily men, says Sara Director, a partner at Barasch & McGarry who represents thousands of 9/11 survivors, many of whom have dealt with uterine cancer. (Mikhail, 9/10)
