US senators criticize staffing cuts in health care program for Sept. 11 responders
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. senators are raising questions about how staffing cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program will affect 9/11 first responders, survivors and residents affected by the terrorist attacks who now live throughout the country.
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the New York Democrats wrote the Trump administration’s 20% cut in the number of federal workers who administer the program “will have a direct impact on the quality and accessibility of care provided to those who answered the call on 9/11 and are now sick with respiratory ailments, cancer and other conditions.”
“As you know, the WTCHP has provided critical screenings, services, research and medications to thousands of Americans at zero cost for 9/11-related health conditions and diseases,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wrote.
“Since the establishment of the WTCHP in 2011, the number of program enrollees has more than doubled from 61,000 to 132,000,” they added. “This growing population of first responders and survivors, which was just expanded by bipartisan legislation to cover additional 9/11 Military and Civilian responders to the Pentagon and Shanksville PA crash site, highlights the need for elevated staffing and funding levels, rather than a nonsensical and dangerous 20 percent staffing reduction which puts the effective functioning of this vital program at risk.”
Schumer and Gillibrand asked HHS to provide them with a briefing about how exactly the staffing cuts will impact administration of the program.
HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from States Newsroom.
Health program coverage
The World Trade Center Health Program was created in January 2011 after Congress voted to send then-President Barack Obama the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010.
Prior to that, Congress provided funding for health care and monitoring in a piecemeal fashion, according to a timeline from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The program, administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, has specific criteria for coverage, according to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
“Current categories of covered conditions include (1) acute traumatic injuries, (2) airway and digestive disorders, (3) cancers, (4) mental health conditions, and (5) musculoskeletal disorders (WTC responders only),” it states. “Members must receive WTCHP services through several Clinical Centers of Excellence in New York or through a nationwide provider network of certified clinics.”
‘Outrageous and insulting’
Schumer said in a written statement accompanying the letter that the Trump administration’s decision to fire staff administering the program as part of its effort to eliminate “government waste is outrageous and insulting.”
“These brutal cuts mean layoffs for staff who have dedicated their careers to caring for our 9/11 survivors,” Schumer wrote. “It means delayed care for our sick first responders. It is telling 9/11 survivors that after they risked everything to protect us, we can’t support their healthcare needs.
“I’m demanding HHS Secretary Kennedy immediately reverse these cuts and terminations of the people who provide the healthcare to those who answered the call of duty on 9/11 and now suffer from cancer, respiratory illness and more.”
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