Q&A: Cuts to 9/11 health funds sow 'chaos' for attack survivors

• Trump's cost-cutting drive derails help for 9/11 survivors
• Some 130,000 enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program
• The program covers treatment for 69 cancers and more

WASHINGTON - For nearly 25 years, attorney Michael Barasch has been at the heart of the fight to get government compensation and help for Sept. 11 survivors with health problems brought on by the attacks in 2001.

Barasch represented James Zadroga, a New York police officer who died in 2006 of pulmonary fibrosis. Zadroga's autopsy, which found ground glass and carcinogens in his lungs stemming from airborne toxins, eventually led to the creation of the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

As President Donald Trump's administration moves to cut costs, Barasch told Context that the health program is now in "chaos". While Barasch has no direct links to the program, he continues to represent 9/11 survivors.

The World Trade Center Health Program, which has 130,000 members, determines survivors' eligibility to access the compensation fund and provides specialized healthcare services for people with 9/11-related diseases among other responsibilities.

Lawmakers had extended the program until 2090 during Trump's first term, but Barasch said it is now under threat due to the administration's efficiency efforts, overseen by Trump advisor Elon Musk.

The Trump administration slashed about 20% of the health program's staff in February as part of broader layoffs, according to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, but later reversed some cuts to the health program. It eliminated most of the workforce of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which oversees the health program, in March.

Barasch said $3 billion of additional funding was also halted for the program in December.

Barasch, whose firm currently represents 40,000 survivors, said he loses two clients a day to illnesses linked to the 9/11 attacks.

When contacted by Context, an official from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the health program continued to provide services.

This interview has been edited for length and consistency.

Tell me about your experience on September 11, 2001, and where that led.

My office is just two blocks from Ground Zero. So I witnessed the second plane hit the tower, and I was horrified watching people jumping out of the building. That still stays with me.

I'm a lawyer, and for 45 years I've been representing firefighters and police officers when they get injured in the line of duty.

So when 343 firefighters died on 9/11, not to mention 60 police officers, I was immediately involved helping their families.

After 9/11, our offices were closed because we had no electricity, so we were visiting firehouses, offering condolences.

We kept hearing all of these firefighters coughing. They actually called it the "World Trade Center cough" and didn’t really know what it was.  

What role do these federal programs play today?

The health program in particular picks up all of the copays and deductibles that your health insurance company won't cover for these related illnesses.

Second, it provides health care – doctors and nurses who have been treating these particular illnesses.

Third, it will certify illness so the compensation fund will give a financial award – for instance, $20,000 to people with asthma or sinusitis, or $90,000 dollars to people with skin cancer, the most common cancer in the 9/11 community.

Then if you have life-threatening illness – there are 69 cancers altogether right now – it will give you $250,000 dollars. If you’re found to be disabled, the fund will give you an award to make up for your lost income until age 65. And finally, (there is compensation) if you die of your illness.

The World Trade Center Health Program is now in all 50 states, and it is saving lives.

What do we know for certain about these cuts, and what's still up in the air?

We know nothing for certain – it's like whiplash. The health program needs an additional $3 billion, because of medical inflation and the explosion of cancer in the 9/11 community.

In December, we were told the $3 billion was going to be in the (federal budget). Then we found out, even though President Trump had not yet been put in office, he and Musk said not to approve the budget, and we found out that $3 billion was gone.

That created a huge outcry, and once Trump got in office, that became our directive – to fully fund the health program. Instead, what happened? Musk announces a 20% cut to the health program. And then there was such an outcry again that Trump reversed the cuts two weeks later.

Then last month, Musk announced he's ending NIOSH, which administers the health program, and firing 18 people.

For about a week, you couldn't even get a phone call through to the World Trade Center Health Program. The calls I've been getting are heart-breaking: "Does this mean I can't get my chemotherapy, that my treatment will stop? I can't call to make an appointment." This has caused such panic among such a fragile community.

Instead of people waiting four months for an appointment, it will now take six to eight months. That will mean less early detection, more metastases, and more people are going to die.

And meanwhile, our need for the additional $3 billion – that hasn't gone away. People aren't going to stop getting sick.

(Reporting by Carey L. Biron; Editing Ana Nicolaci da Costa.)