The 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act
Today, the Hansen & Rosasco, LLP team attended the press conference to introduce the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The law firm of Hansen & Rosasco supports the brave men and women who ran towards danger and helped in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by cosponsoring the 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act.
Member of Congress Andrew R. Garbarino states, “everyone remembers the 2,997 people who perished from the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. But in the years since, tens of thousands of first responders, law enforcement, and relief workers have lost their lives or gotten sick after assisting with the subsequent clean-up.
In response, Congress passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which created the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and reopened the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. In subsequent years, Congress, with bipartisan support in 2015 and 2019, moved to expand both programs’ funding and extend their authorizations to ensure that both those injured and their families get the help they need and deserve.
Today, the WTCHP provides medical treatment and monitoring for over 120,000 first responders and survivors, spanning every state and all but one congressional district. It is also worth noting that the WTCHP has been consistently free of reports of fraud since its inception.
While Congress in 2015, extended the program to 2090, the precipitous rise in medical costs and cancer rates over since then has led to an impending funding shortfall that needs to be dealt with. Unless Congress acts, the program has said that it will have to announce in 2027 that responders and survivors who we anticipate will become ill in the coming years will not be able to join the program. That starting in 2028 the program will bar new enrollments and other anticipated cuts in services. If Congress does not quickly address this, the men and women who put their lives on the line will lose health coverage to treat the physical and mental illnesses that they sustained from responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act addresses this funding shortfall and ensures adequate funding for years to come. It also fixes an issue that has prevented all active-duty servicemembers, DOD civilians and other Federal responders who responded to the Pentagon and Shanksville crash sites from joining the WTCHP, fixing the statute and making them eligible to join the program. Finally, it makes a series of minor technical changes to statute to streamline its operations care within the program.”
To honor those we lost and to thank those who risked everything to save their fellow Americans, Hansen & Rosasco co-sponsors this legislation and joins in on supporting the 9/11 community. In doing so, we are guaranteeing that these heroic men and women are able to continue to receive the healthcare benefits they deserve.
Click here to watch 9/11: The Forgotten Soldiers of the Pentagon