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The pivotal World Trade Center Health Program that covers medical expenses for those suffering from 9/11-related illnesses will be fully funded for the next 15 years, thanks to a bipartisan agreement hammered out in Washington, D.C., officials said Wednesday.
A federal budget bill coming up for a vote next week will include permanent funding for the World Trade Center Health Program through 2040, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
, and other federal legislators announced. Without the financial boost, the health program would have faced drastic financial shortfalls over the next few years as it faced rising medical costs and an uptick in 9/11 survivors coming down with cancers and other illnesses directly related to their time at Ground Zero, officials said. Congress approved more than $1 billion in stopgap funding for the program over the last few years, but it still wasn't enough to keep them from flying off the fiscal cliff they were quickly approaching, Schumer said.
"Running this program on a year-to-year basis is no way for our brave first responders to live," Schumer said as he announced the deal. "I always said that I will not rest until the victims of 9/11 know that whenever they need care—whether it be tomorrow or 15 years in the future—that care will be there for them. After years of work, I am so proud to say that day has finally arrived.
" The World Trade Center Health Program was created in 2011 as part of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. It initially was supposed to run for five years but was extended until 2090 as more people came down with 9/11 illnesses. As of September, more than 130,000 first responders and survivors have enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program.
Just over 7,000 people enrolled this year alone, according to the program's website. The program, as well as the 9/11 Victims' Compensation Fund were extended to provide lifetime care for the heroes and victims of 9/11, officials said. Yet the initial funding the program received couldn't keep up with its extended mandate, said New York Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand, who helped secure the permanent funding with Schumer, Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Rep.
Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
"[It] would have forced cuts to program services in as little as three years and harmed 9/11 responders and survivors," Gillibrand said. "This new formula provides substantially more funding and peace of mind for responders and survivors currently participating in the vital services the World Trade Center Health Program provides." The permanent funding will "remove the threat of impending cuts in services that would have started in 2027," said Benjamin Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act.
"The new funding formula provides substantially more funding for the program over the next 15 years," Chevat said. "The peace of mind brought by today's announcement is an early holiday gift for those that depend on the program. "The impending crisis has been averted, and that should be celebrated," he said.
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