URGENT NEWS: The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund is Running Out of Money!

As if the aftermath of 9/11 could not possibly get worse – it has. The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), which compensates responders and survivors with 9/11-related cancers, is running out of money. All VCF awards are now being slashed by 50% – 70%. This will continue and likely get even worse – unless Congress restores additional funding.

The Victim Compensation Fund – established in 2011 with a budget capped at $7.375 billion – now has just about $2 billion left to pay tens of thousands of future claims for 9/11 victims, which include the growing number of claims for cancer and wrongful deaths. Rupa Bhattacharyya, the VCF Special Master, stated that the award for all new 9/11 VCF claims will be reduced, across-the-board, by 70%. Compounding this grim reality is the fact that there are now 20,000 sick or injured claimants (many suffering from a 9/11-caused cancer or have since died from exposure to 9/11 toxins) who have not been given an award. There are also likely thousands more people who will get sick from 9/11 toxic exposure that are expected to file claims before the Victim Compensation Fund expires at the end of 2020.

In addition to the sadness and outrage many feel over these new developments, questions are being asked: “How and why did the money in the Victim Compensation Fund decrease so quickly?”

One answer may simply be that “9/11 cancers have no deadlines.” Each and every day, the 9/11 lawyers at Turley Hansen & Rosasco, LLP speak with another 9/11 responder or survivor who has just been diagnosed with a 9/11-related cancer. And this is more than 17 years after the terrorist attacks!

The World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) recognizes that 9/11-caused cancers have no deadline. The WTCHP has concluded that – based upon many studies of responders, residents, and downtown NYC area workers – years go by before exposure to 9/11 environmental airborne and waterborne toxins will lead to the diagnosis of a 9/11-caused cancer. For example, the WTCHP found that people at or near Ground Zero will be diagnosed with mesothelioma at least 11 years after their exposure to the 9/11 toxins. And even more are likely to be diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or lung cancer as many as 20 or 30 years after having been exposed to the fallout from 9/11.

As of this writing, appeals are being made to Congress to rectify this horrific situation in whatever way possible. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Representatives Peter King, Jerry Nadler, and Carolyn Maloney are co-sponsoring – along with others in Congress – legislation which would ensure those who proved eligibility for filing a claim with the VCF would be compensated fully.

You can help now! Press the “Take Action “link below to see if your senators or representatives support permanent funding of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. If, not, this link from the Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act will put you in touch with their office so that you can tell your member of Congress you want them to support full funding for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

Take Action:
https://www.renew911health.org/take-action/take-action-contact-your-members-of-congress/

See if you qualify today!