9/11 fund crisis
It shrinks as more people need help
The number of people eligible for help under the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund is surging, even as the fund is running low on money, according to data released Friday.
Statistics released by the Department of Justice, which runs the fund, say that 23,390 people are eligible for compensation because of their exposure to the terror attacks of 2001 — a jump of more than 1,000 since the end of December.
Claims to the fund are also surging, from 43,100 recorded at the end of the year to 49,548 at the end of last month. It’s also a jump of more than 14,000 in the last 12 months.
The surge in claims and eligibility determinations forced the special master who oversees the fund, Rupa Bhattacharyya, to announce in February that all pending claims would be slashed by half, and new ones would get only 30% of what earlier claims received.
When the fund was passed into law as part of 2015’s 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, Congress gave it $7.4 billion that was meant to last until 2020. But as of the new report, with claims still climbing, $5.1 billion of that is gone.
The only fix is for Congress to pass a new, extended version of the 9/11 bill.
“It’s clear from these statistics that the impact of 9/11 still is being felt by more and more people, even 18 years later,” said Ben Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the Zadroga Act.
“Everyday we are hearing stories of responders and survivors impacted by 9/11 related cancer, impacting their health and impacting their families,” Chevat said. “It’s why Congress needs to act to fully fund and extend the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.”
A bill proposed to do that has secured enough backers in the House to pass, including more than 50 Republicans. There are not yet enough senators backing a similar measure in the upper chamber.
“It’s one of the few issues that appear to be gaining bipartisan support, and we’re hoping to see action soon,” Chevat said.