With the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act set to expire at the end of 2015, an area lawmaker is hoping to extend the bill an additional 25 years.
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6) said in an Oct. 3 interview he is hoping to extend the bill that provides specialized health care and financial compensation for 9/11 first responders.
“It is important that we don’t forget these first responders and other people who put their life on the line, and we have to make sure that they are treated,” he said.
“I just think we have to be vigilant to make sure that this program is working and that [we are] covering everyone both financially and in terms of the disabilities that we are covering.” While Pallone said he is working on securing support from his colleagues in Congress, John Feal, a 9/11 first responder and leading advocate for the bill, said last week he does not want to see renewal of the legislation become a political issue.
“I want to believe that Congress will do the right thing and that it won’t be as long as it took the last time,” Feal said. “In reality, this is going to be a long, hard fight. Congress is dysfunctional, and they put their political affiliations before important issues like this.
“People are sick and dying, people are dying from cancer all the time from 9/11,” he added. “These people deserve to have health care and go to the centers of excellence that are treating them until they die.”
Previously, 9/11 responders were entitled to free health care, but funding was discretionary from year to year. Under the bill, which was signed into law in 2011, funding was made permanent over a five-year period.
Some of the ailments included under the bill are various cancers, lung diseases, chronic respiratory disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic or anxiety disorders and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The bill establishes the World Trade Center Health Program, a permanent program to screen, monitor and treat eligible responders and survivors who are suffering from diseases related to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
It directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research into diseases that may be related to the conditions at Ground Zero and to evaluate methods of diagnosis and treatment.
Also, the legislation builds on the Centers of Excellence, which are currently providing care to thousands of responders and survivors, ensuring ongoing data collection and analysis to evaluate health risks.
On Sept. 22, three former New York City firefighters succumbed to 9/11-related illnesses, including Jackson resident Lt. Howard Bischoff.
According to Feal, of the 30,000 first responders using the Centers for Excellence, at least 3,000 have been certified as suffering from cancer and others are waiting to be certified.
First responders with all cancers, other than prostate cancer, are urged to apply for compensation at www.vcf.gov prior to the Oct. 12 deadline.
During debate on the bill, some Republicans from districts outside the tri-state area opposed it, which led to a lengthy delay in its ultimate passage.
Pallone said he does not expect the bill extension to face the same opposition this time as it did for the original authorization.
“I would think it would be easier, but you never know, so we shouldn’t take anything for granted,” he said. “I think that realistically we are likely to get it passed next year.”
With a congressional election approaching in November, followed by a lame duck session of Congress, Pallone said it is unlikely the bill will be moved until 2015.
“We will work on it now, but we will get it passed and signed into law hopefully at the beginning of next year,” he said.
Feal also said until the measure is reauthorized, he will continue to advocate for the bill.
“I’d say over the next few weeks we’ll be making smaller trips to [Washington] D.C. and when necessary we will take three, four, five buses,” he said.
Feal, who founded the Fealgood Foundation to advocate for first responders, said the bill is crucial because new ailments will begin to be diagnosed.
“The next wave of cancers is coming in the form of the asbestos cancer,” he said. “Asbestos takes 15, 20, 25 years to manifest in the body.
“So right now you saw the respiratory illnesses, then the blood cancers, then organ cancers; now you are going to see the next wave of cancers coming.”
Pallone also said there will be additional sicknesses because first responders are aging.
“As the people who were impacted get older, they are more likely to be forming the diseases that came from 9/11,” he said.
While the bill was only authorized for five years, Feal said the program has worked out well for first responders.
“Since the bill was signed into law, the health care part of the law was up and running immediately, and they’ve done a great job,” he said. “The Victim Compensation Fund came out of the gate, and the awards were going out slow but that number has picked up.
“They are now fulfilling their obligation and compensating people,” he added. “The process is still slow, and we are always implementing new ideas to help them speed it up.”
Pallone agreed that the Centers of Excellence program has been successful.
“The program is working well, we just have to make sure that there is adequate funding and that if any new disorders come up, they are covered,” he said.
Feal spent five days at Ground Zero and lost half of his left foot after it was crushed by 8,000 pounds of steel. He has made numerous trips to Washington to support the bill.
Along with his advocacy work Feal supported the 9/11 Responders Remember Park in Nesconset on Long Island, which features three granite walls inscribed with the names of each 9/11 first responder who has died from cancer.
He said each May and September he hosts a memorial ceremony at the park when new names are added to the wall.
According to Feal, there are currently more than 390 names on the wall and the names of 38 more 9/11 first responders will be added at the next ceremony.
Feal said his motto for the current campaign to reauthorize the bill is, “We pray for the dead, but we fight like hell for the living.”