New Appropriations Measure Aims to Fund World Trade Center Health Program Through 2090
Fresh off their success in persuading the administration of President Donald Trump to undo the abrupt firing of 20 percent of the Washington staff of the World Trade Center Health Program (which serves people made sick by toxic debris from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001), a bipartisan coalition of federal legislators is mounting a renewed push to enact legislation that, if signed into law, will allocate sufficient funds for the program to remain solvent. In the absence of such ratification, the program will be forced to turn away new enrollments by responders and survivors no later than October 2028, while existing enrollees will face direct cuts to their care and be denied medical monitoring and treatment.
This measure, the September 11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act of 2025, is nearly identical to a similar measure that was agreed upon by the leadership of both houses of Congress in the closing weeks of last year, but was dropped from the federal budget at the last moment at the insistence of Elon Musk, whom President Trump has tapped to head up the new Department of Government Efficiency.
The new bill aims aimed to ensure that the WTC Health Program will have funding necessary for the next ten years, after which its funding mechanism would be revised to prevent future shortfalls through the planned sunset of benefits in 2090.
On February 26, Congressman Dan Goldman (who represents Lower Manhattan) joined Congressman Jerry Nadler (representing Midtown Manhattan) and Congressman Andrew Garbarino (representing the South Shore of Long Island) to introduce the new measure in the House of Representatives. New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand simultaneously sponsored a parallel version of the same bill in the upper house of the federal legislature.
At a rally held in front of the Capitol Building that morning, Mr. Goldman said, “every New Yorker has been impacted by the profound loss and devastating pain from the September 11th attacks, including those like me who lived in Lower Manhattan at the time. We owe a permanent debt to the first responders and unwavering support for the survivors who continue to bear the physical and emotional scars. The September 11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act will ensure that these heroes receive the health care they are owed.”
Lower Manhattan resident Mariama James, who is a survivor of the September 11 attacks and has acquired a reputation as a zealous advocate for services to people affected by the disaster, also attended the rally in Washington, D.C. She said, “I stepped into this fight as a young woman, believing justice and care would swiftly follow the devastation of September 11. Now, nearly 24 years later, I stand here still, imploring our leaders: fully and permanently fund the Health Program. Time is not healing, it’s revealing the ongoing toll, and our commitment must match that reality.”
When the WTC Health Program was launched in 2010, no policymaker could foresee the number of people who would eventually need its services. Its initial budget was drained in a few years, and the bill required reauthorization in 2015. The additional funds allocated at that time were nearly depleted by 2023, which led Congress to provide a cash infusion of $676 million at the end of that year. This most recent funding boost is likely to be sufficient through sometime in 2028. At that point, and absent further allocations, however, the program will need to begin turning away new applicants and rationing care.