2/28/2023

A bipartisan plan to fill a funding gap for people sickened by toxins released in the 2001 terror attacks was rolled out Tuesday [2/28/20/23]  by lawmakers hoping to deal with the money shortfall before it becomes a crisis.

The bill — meant to cover shortfalls the World Trade Center Health Program is expected to face starting around 2027 — aims to fix a funding formula that has not kept up as higher enrollment and costs surged more than lawmakers expected when the program was made permanent in 2015. …

The laws enacting the program failed to adequately estimate the numbers of people who would apply, the increasing severity of cancer afflicting tens of thousands, and spiking inflation, its proponents say. There are more than 125,000 people in the program, including more than 25,000 diagnosed with cancer.

Democrats who controlled both houses of Congress last year failed to advance a bill to fix the problem, forcing Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to scramble to add $1 billion to a year-end funding bill at the last minute. That money covers the program’s shortfall until about 2027.

The new bill unveiled Tuesday aims to cure the problem permanently.”

– Michael McAuliff, “NY Lawmakers – Republicans and Democrats – Unveil Bill to Close Funding Shortfall in 9/11 Health Program,” nydailynews.com, February 28, 2023