(NEW YORK) — The Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce affect the World Trade Center Health Program, putting the health of 9/11 first responders at risk, critics said.
Sixteen probationary staff members at the World Trade Center Health Program have been fired as part of the layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Several other full-time staff members have agreed to take a buyout, according to Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act.
The firings and buyouts amount to a 20% reduction in the staff that supervises and administers the World Trade Center Health Program. There are also cuts to research grants that fund efforts at the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) to determine whether new health conditions are related to service at the World Trade Center site on and after 9/11.
Decisions on certifications to allow for treatment of new cancers and other conditions will be delayed because of the firings and layoffs, Benjamin Chevat, of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, told ABC News. Additionally, decisions on pending petitions to expand coverage to autoimmune and cardiac conditions will be delayed and there will be fewer people to intervene when there are problems with prescriptions and treatment, according to Chevat.
“We cannot believe that the Trump administration or the new HHS Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr. intends to harm 9/11 responders and survivors in the World Trade Center Health Program, but that will be the outcome of these cuts,” Chevat said.
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer demanded that the funds be restored.
“‘Never forget’ is not just a slogan. It is a sacred promise to always stand by 9/11 heroes, a promise being broken by slashing funding and vital staffing for their healthcare in the World Trade Center Health Program. It’s unacceptable, and un-American,” said Schumer in a joint statement with Gillibrand. “To say funding for 9/11 first responders is government waste is outrageous and insulting.”
“These brutal cuts mean layoffs for staff who have dedicated their careers to caring for our 9/11 survivors. It means delayed care for our sick first responders. It is telling 9/11 survivors that after they risked everything to protect us, we can’t support their healthcare needs,” the statement continued.
The World Trade Center Health Program was created in 2011 as part of the Zadroga Act. It was extended until 2090 to compensate the growing number of people who have contracted illnesses related to 9/11.
About 140,000 survivors have enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, including about 12,000 last year alone, according to the CDC.
“Slashing funding and laying off workers who run this vital program will have a devastating impact on its ability to provide sick responders and survivors with the care they need. This is betrayal of our heroes who stepped up and risked their lives to put our community back together in one of our nation’s darkest hours, and we will not let it stand. HHS Secretary Kennedy must reverse these cuts and terminations immediately,” Gillibrand said in the statement.
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