Congress Ends 9/11 Workers' Health Care Bill
By: NY1 News
9/29/2008

Congress has abandoned legislation to provide billions of dollars in health care for September 11th recovery workers.

The program would have provided long term care for workers who were at the World Trade Center on or shortly after September 11, 2001 at an estimated cost of at least $5 billion.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg strongly objected to a part of the bill that would have forced the city to pay for 10 percent of the program, saying it would place an undue burden on city taxpayers.

In addition, the legislation would have reopened the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, adding around $6 billion to the plan.

The legislation had the backing of several New York congressmen but was overshadowed by negotiations surrounding the financial bailout.

http://www.ny1.com:80/content/top_stories/86428/congress-ends-9-11-workers--health-care-bill/Default.aspx

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/nyregion/21borjas.html

March 21, 2007

Line-of-Duty Death Benefits for Officer’s Work After 9/11

By SEWELL CHAN

The New York City Police Pension Fund has approved line-of-duty death benefits for the family of Cesar A. Borja, the police officer whose death in January became a symbol of the plight of those who worked in Lower Manhattan after 9/11.

The fund’s board unanimously approved the benefits on March 14. The decision, which was expected, did not resolve the question of what caused the chronic lung ailment that killed Officer Borja and what role his work in Lower Manhattan might have had in the development of the disease.

Under a state law signed by Gov. George E. Pataki in June 2005, public employees who took part in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup efforts are presumed, if they became permanently disabled because of certain medical conditions, to have gotten sick in connection with the disaster.