Mayor to Feds: Give Us $150M For 9/11 Health;
Find Respiratory And Emotional Problems Common, Growing

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Mayor Bloomberg last week vowed to secure increased funds for the thousands of New Yorkers whose health has been compromised by the toxic dust and debris that blanketed lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn for months after 9/11.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow CITY WILL DO WHAT IT CAN: Mayor Bloomberg Feb. 13 vowed to implement 15 recommendations made by the World Trade Center Health Panel he created last September to study ways to improve the city's response to residents, workers and students exposed to Ground Zero toxins. Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs, who co-chaired the panel, and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta were present for the announcement.

He made his pledge at a press conference Feb. 13 after releasing a report from the World Trade Center Health Panel he appointed last September. The panel was charged with studying Sept. 11 health effects and treatment programs, many of which say they are running out of funding.

Find Major Ailments

The panel said common problems included respiratory disorders, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. There was also an alarming emergence of diseases that usually take much longer to manifest, such as cancer and pulmonary fibrosis.

Additionally, the report noted the possibility that members of the general public who were exposed to lower concentrations of toxins months after the attacks - due in part to repeated assurances from the Environmental Protection Agency that the air was safe - will suffer from delayed 9/11-related diseases as they age.

Governor Spitzer, in a written statement released shortly after the Mayor's press conference, said he looked forward to working with the city to secure more Federal aid.

"As a nation, we have a duty to provide appropriate funding to address this serious problem," he said. "I wholeheartedly support [the Mayor's] proposal to fully fund the treatment of those that are still carrying the physical and mental wounds of September 11 in their everyday lives."

It was the first time the Mayor acknowledged the city's broader responsibility to lower-Manhattan residents, workers and students as well as its first-responders and emergency staff.

The Mayor said he'll head to Capitol Hill next month to lobby Congress for the projected $150 million a year it will cost the city to cover health programs for those sickened by 9/11.

Pegs Hopes to Democrats

He noted that President Bush's recent budget proposal to Congress contained no funding for such programs, although the Bush Administration recently promised a one-time grant of $25 million to help keep existing treatment centers open. Although the Federal Government has not provided consistent aid in the past, Mayor Bloomberg said he was hopeful that the Democratic-controlled Congress would set up a permanent funding stream.

According to the WTC Health Panel, chaired by Linda I. Gibbs, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, and Edward Skyler, Deputy Mayor for Administration, respiratory ailments, mental trauma and other physical problems related to 9/11 toxic dust cost the nation $393 million annually.

Private insurance, Medicaid and other existing programs cover about 60 percent of that amount.

Comp Fund Reopener?

Among the WTC Health Panel recommendations embraced by Mr. Bloomberg was that Congress re-open the Victims' Compensation Fund that was established in the wake of 9/11. It awarded nearly $7 billion to surviving family members of those who died in the terrorist attacks.

But its application deadline was in December 2003, and those whose symptoms emerged later were excluded. Congress shut it down that year. If it were reopened, the former administrator of the fund, Kenneth Feinberg, has volunteered to return and waive any fees.

Because the VCF was initially created to protect airlines and other businesses from litigation, those who applied for benefits gave up the right to sue the city, the Federal Government or related parties for 9/11-related issues.

Tap Captive Fund

Mr. Bloomberg suggested taking the $1 billion the Bush Administration funneled into the Captiva Insurance Fund - set up in 2004 as liability insurance for the city and private construction contractors doing clean-up work at Ground Zero - and moving it into the Victims' Compensation Fund. That money could be moved within a week, he said, and would provide a generous first installment for a 9/11 health-care system.

But before that could happen, mayoral officials said, Congress would have to exempt from liability the city and private businesses currently protected by the Captiva Fund. Without that relief, the Mayor said, many small businesses could go bankrupt, "and we want businesses to help rebuild after disasters - we needed them to reopen in lower Manhattan" after the attacks.

While many of the WTC Health Panel recommendations are contingent on securing funding, not all the initiatives have to wait, said Ms. Gibbs.

What City Can Do

The city would immediately begin its search for a World Trade Center Health Coordinator to oversee inter-agency data sharing and cooperation in the New York region. It would also start disseminating treatment and monitoring guidelines via its Web site for private doctors to use when caring for those suffering from 9/11-related problems.

Mr. Skyler said the city hoped to be able to stop fighting several legal claims made by 9/11 responders. At least 6,000 lawsuits filed by emergency workers allege that the city and contractors didn't properly monitor the air quality at Ground Zero. The city has drawn millions from the Captiva Fund to pay lawyers' fees to fight the claims. More lawsuits are expected, however.

Mr. Skyler said it pained the city to battle with first-responders over legal liability. "Litigation is ongoing and divisive. The VCF is much faster. And we have to remember who is to blame here - it's 19 hijackers with box cutters," he said. "We would rather stand with you in front of Congress than against you in a courtroom."

Other key recommendations in the WTC Health Panel report include:

- The Federal Government should pledge long-term funding to keep existing 9/11 programs open, as well as any need-based expansion of services. It should also fund the WTC Health Registry and additional NYPD-led monitoring and research;

- Expansion of the WTC Environmental Health Center at Bellevue, with increased promotion of its services, including lower Manhattan residents, commercial workers and laborers with a history of exposure. Bellevue is currently the only evaluation and treatment program available to all affected and potentially affected individuals;

Step in for Red Cross

- The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene should replace and expand the mental health services provided by the American Red Cross, which will end its program later this year. The DOHMH should create community-based treatment options for those with 9/11-related mental health conditions. The program should be actively promoted around the city;

- The Mayor should establish a group of medical professionals with expertise in public health, mental health and environmental health. The group should be made up of public- and private-sector professionals. They'll be charged with staying on top of current research on 9/11 health effects;

- The Office of Emergency Management, in collaboration with other agencies, should expand its outreach to affected communities about construction and deconstruction activities that could pose environmental hazards;

- OEM should convene relevant agencies to review and enhance the environmental, health and safety aspects of the city's disaster response plans to ensure the health of residents, first-responders and other emergency workers;

- The Mayor should direct all relevant agencies to appoint a WTC Health Liaison to track relevant agency-specific information about 9/11-related issues and communicate information to employees and retirees. The city should make a renewed effort to identify all the public employees, active and retired, who volunteered or worked at Ground Zero;

- City employees who are eligible for the Mount Sinai program but aren't currently participating should be given the opportunity to do an initial screening on city time. All municipal employees who participated in WTC operations should be told about the Bellevue program and given the opportunity to have an initial evaluation on city time;

- The city should actively encourage eligible employees and retirees who participated in rescue and recovery operations to register with the state Workers' Compensation Board by Aug. 14.

Resists Presumption

Despite his acceptance of the city's role in helping its residents and workers deal with the health ramifications of 9/11, the Mayor said he still opposed legislation granting presumptive disabilities to those who labored at Ground Zero.

"The city is going to do what it can - but we can't bankrupt our hospitals," he said. "I'm sure you don't want taxes to go up, and this is the conundrum we face. These presumptive bills were not well thought-out. To say for the next 30 years anything that goes wrong with you is the responsibility of the state - well, there's just not enough money for everything."