WASHINGTON D.C.- Democratic U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are criticizing how staffing changes to the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) might affect 9/11 first responders, survivors, and residents affected by the terrorist attacks that took place more than two decades ago.
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the New York Democrats expressed concern that a 20 percent reduction in the number of federal workers who administer the program “will have a direct impact on the quality and accessibility of care provided to those who answered the call on 9/11 and are now sick with respiratory ailments, cancer, and other conditions.”
Schumer and Gillibrand said that the staff reductions to the WTCHP have already led to the termination of at least 16 program staff, according to advocates. Others taking the administration’s “buyout ” reduced those who work on or supervise the WTCHP by approximately 20 percent of the total staff.
In a press release, Schumer did not indicate the amount of funding by which the program would be reduced and did not specify whether or not some or all of the positions in the program that were being vacated by workers who accepted the “buyout” would be replaced.
The WTCHP helps pay for first responders diagnosed with conditions related to their service on 9/11. The program covers medical expenses for 9/11-related health conditions, including many types of cancer and respiratory illnesses.
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