If the funding shortfall is not addressed, the program will not be able to accommodate any new members starting October 2024, according tofrom 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.
Known as the World Trade Center Health Program, the program was established by Congress to pay for any illnesses related to the community’s exposure at ground zero. This includes police, cleanup volunteers and firefighters who have struggled with higher rates of cancer in the intervening two decades., needs additional funds “due to a rise in medical costs and cancer rates over the last three years,” according to the letter.
The letter urges action on a bipartisan bill aimed to address the funding deficit that has since stalled. In 2021, “The 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act” was introduced by Democratic New York Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler with support from Garbarino and Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, but there has been little movement since.
In response to the letter, Pallone said, "Before passing the House, the legislation was marked up in my Energy and Commerce Committee and so there is no reason to mark it up in the House Committee again. It’s now the Senate’s responsibility to take action, and I encourage my Republican colleagues to begin working on Senate Republicans, who have the power to pass this bill.
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