Health care bill for 9/11 responders advances

Health care bill for 9/11 responders advances
Pallone: James Zadroga 9/11 act will become law
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Advocates of a federal bill guaranteeing health care for life for Sept. 11 first responders breathed a collective sigh of relief last week as the bill took a crucial step forward.

Members of the New York congressional delegation, members of the FealGood Foundation and 9/11 responders surround Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th District) at a rally held at ground zero in New York on March 14 prior to the House Subcommittee on Health approval of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act. Members of the New York congressional delegation, members of the FealGood Foundation and 9/11 responders surround Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th District) at a rally held at ground zero in New York on March 14 prior to the House Subcommittee on Health approval of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act. The House Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th District), passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act (H.R. 847) 25- 8 on March 16.

“I was very pleased with the vote, because we were able to defeat all the weakened amendments,” Pallone said.

Pallone said last week’s vote is a good indication that the nearly $11 billion bill will pass the necessary steps to become law.

“That bodes well for the future, trying to get it to the full committee, to the floor and ultimately to the president’s desk,” he said.

Pallone also said he is going to work with his Committee on Energy and Commerce to ensure the bill moves forward. “I am obviously going to continue to push it to committee and to the floor,” he said.

Pallone said one of the bill’s most critical provisions is that the 9/11 first responders would be guaranteed health care for life.

“This is a permanent program,” he said.

The proposed bill would cover more than 30,000 9/11 first responders and residents who were near or at the World Trade Center in New York City.

John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation and a 9/11 first responder, has been critical of Pallone’s work on the bill. He has organized protests in front of Pallone’s Long Branch office and lobbied vigorously for the bill.

Feal said last week he is pleased that the bill moved out of the subcommittee and was pleased with the congressman’s efforts.

“Can you feel my smile from ear to ear?” he asked. “Sunday we did a press conference at ground zero, and before we all spoke, I went up to Congressman Pallone and shook his hand.

“I said, Congressman, thank you for your leadership, and this was nothing personal,’ ” he added. “He shook my hand and said thank you.”

Currently, 9/11 responders receive free health care, but funding is discretionary from year to year. Under the proposed bill funding would be permanent and responders would receive health care for life.

In previous interviews Pallone has stated that the bill did not have enough votes to pass subcommittee, but during the week leading up to the vote he believed he did have the votes.

“We pretty much figured out what the vote would be, so I wasn’t surprised,” he said. “When we finally had the commitments last week, there were no surprises, but until that time, it was difficult.”

Pallone has previously stated that a new tax would have to be implemented to pay for the bill.

Feal attended the hearing in Washington, D.C., along with about 30 9/11 first responders. He also brought about 75 first responders with him to the press conference with Pallone at ground zero on March 14.

During his opening statement Pallone praised those who attended the hearing.

“I would like to recognize and thank all of the first responders who are here today,” he said. “You are true heroes.

“I would also like to thank some of the survivors who are with us as well,” he added. “I know the 9/11 terrorist attacks have changed your lives in ways that many of us could never understand.”

Pallone went on to explain the bill.

“H.R. 847 would establish the World Trade Center Health Program, a permanent program to screen, monitor and treat eligible responders and survivors who are suffering from World Trade Center-related diseases,” he said. “It would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research into new conditions that may be related to the attacks and to evaluate different and emerging methods of diagnosis and treatment.

“Also, the legislation would build upon the expertise of the Centers of Excellence, which are currently providing high-quality care to thousands of responders and survivors, ensuring ongoing data collection and analysis to evaluate health risks.”

Feal is one of those injured 9/11 responders. After spending five days at ground zero, his left foot was crushed by 8,000 pounds of steel and he lost half of his foot.

Feal has long contended that the bill had enough votes to pass.

“I’m vindicated because back in January when I had a meeting with Congressman Pallone, I said I had these votes,” he said. “There was even members of the New York delegation that didn’t think we’d have this many votes. The whole time I said we’d have 25, 26, 27 votes.”

The 25-8 vote did not include five members who did not vote. Feal was confident some of those would have supported the bill.

“I don’t how many of those people would have voted no, but I know for sure that a couple would have voted yes,” he said.

The hearing took around six hours during which various amendments were introduced and ultimately defeated, including an amendment that would have denied coverage to undocumented first responders and requiring New York City to pay 50 percent of the costs of treatment.

Feal said that even some of the people who supported the amendments voted for the bill without them.

“Even those on the Republican side that voted for amendments voted at the end of the day for the final passage of the bill,” he said.

The Obama administration has not supported the bill thus far, proposing instead that the funding be year to year. But Feal is now optimistic that the bill will eventually make it to the president’s desk, possibly even by Sept. 11, the ninth anniversary of the attacks.

“At the end of the day I just want to help as many 9/11 responders as I [can],” he said. “The bill might not pass, but I’m confident it will. We have a lot of work ahead of us and everybody has to be a team player.

“We have to educate the president on the importance of this bill. This is not a Republican or Democratic issue, it is an American issue.”


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