Spending package signed by Trump includes money to shore up WTC Health Program

WASHINGTON — The World Trade Center Health Program will remain fully funded under a provision included in the spending package passed by Congress and signed into law Tuesday by President Donald Trump.

The program, which provides health care to more than 135,000 people who have fallen ill from their exposure to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack sites, was facing up to a $3 billion shortfall over the next decade, as the program continues to see a rise in new patients.

A bipartisan deal ushered by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) in the House, and New York Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in the Senate, ensured an incremental bump in funding for the health program through 2040 to address any yearly shortfalls.

"New Yorkers will never forget September 11th, and our responsibility doesn’t end with words," Garbarino, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement to Newsday. "Responders and survivors were promised care, and today we are finally delivering certainty that that care will always be there."

Gillibrand in a statement said the World Trade Center Health Program "honors our promise to never forget our 9/11 survivors and the first responders who protected our nation in its darkest hour."

Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said the funding fix would offer a sense of relief to first responders and survivors who have worried about the long-term financial future of the program.

"I have seen firsthand the toll that uncertainty and funding gaps take on our 9/11 heroes, standing with them as more and more got sick with cancers and other illnesses from rushing to danger and working on the pile," Schumer said in a statement. "Families will no longer have to worry whether funding will be there for their loved ones to afford life-saving treatment."

First responders, survivors and 9/11 advocates have annually fanned out across Capitol Hill, lobbying lawmakers to protect the program, which was first signed into law in 2011. They applauded news of the measure’s final passage on Tuesday.

"While we will never rest until every 9/11 responder and survivor receives the care and monitoring that they need and deserve, the peace of mind brought by today’s vote is good news for those that depend on the program," said Ben Chevat, executive director of Albany-based 9/11 Health Watch, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of the health program, responders and survivors.

Michael Barasch, a 9/11 legal advocate who represents many of the program's patients, told Newsday in an email: "This victory did not come easily. It is the result of years of relentless advocacy by the 9/11 community, responders, survivors, families, doctors, union leaders, and advocates; all who refused to accept broken promises or temporary solutions."

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.