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More Help on Way for Ground Zero Workers

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 January 2007, 00:00 CST

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to keep funding health programs for sick Gound Zero workers, enough to keep the effort alive at least through 2007, the White House said Tuesday.

The administration next week will propose spending at least $25 million more to fund a 9/11-related health care program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan and a related effort for New York firefighters.

White House officials said they would consider providing more money, depending on the findings of a separate government task force that is examining Sept. 11-related health issues.

"We consider this a good starting point," said White House budget spokesman Sean Kevelighan.

Rep. Vito Fossella, R-Staten Island, called the news "a breakthrough" after years of seeking more help from the government.

"For the first time in the federal budget there will be a down payment to provide for funding for continued treatment and monitoring for Sept. 11 responders who need our help," Fossella said.

Word of the new money came a day before the president was to speak in New York about the economy, and sick Ground Zero workers planned a rally timed to the visit. It was also a week before Bush offers his budget proposal to Congress.

The issue gained new attention just last week when a former New York City police officer died of lung problems, more than five years after he worked at Ground Zero.

Cesar Borja, 52, died awaiting a lung transplant. His son, Ceasar Borja Jr., 21, was tentatively scheduled to meet with the president in New York today to discuss Sept. 11 health issues, but no specific time was given.

The son, a college student, attended Bush's annual State of the Union address to Congress last week hours after his father's death to call attention to the issue. Borja came as the personal guest of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who on Tuesday said she was pleased that "the president has agreed to meet with Ceasar Borja Jr. tomorrow and to hear his family's case for funding vitally needed to keep our treatment programs open. ... We cannot allow these critical health care services to dry up."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the funding "encouraging," adding in a statement that treatment programs "are working well, but will need vastly more support from Washington."

Fossella said he learned of the additional funding in a Tuesday morning meeting with the head of the White House budget office, Rob Portman. Two other New York Republicans, Reps. Peter King of Long Island and James Walsh of Syracuse, also attended the meeting.

The White House often gives lawmakers advance notice of good news contained in the budget proposal, which must still be approved by Congress.

Fossella and Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan have spent years lobbying for 9/11 health funding. Maloney, D-N.Y., called the move "long overdue," adding that the health programs should treat "all those exposed and affected," including lower Manhattan residents.

The $25 million figure will probably change after the administration gets more details from the hospital and New York City about their patients, and Fossella said the goal was not to hit a specific dollar target but to continue treating those patients.

The government delivered $75 million for the programs last year, but health advocates had warned that money was due to run out by the summer.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat whose district includes Ground Zero, said the $25 million was a "first step forward" in getting the government to respond to the health needs but argued that the dollar figure was grossly inadequate.

Under the new White House proposal, those programs would remain funded through the end of the year and their inclusion in the president's budget suggests it may be easier to continue funding through future years.

"Obviously, it's going to cost more than $25 million," said King. "But in the course of the last year, they've seen the health problems arising from 9/11, so now the only question is what is the extent of it and how to meet those needs."

The death last week of Officer Borja is one of several fatalities that have generated increasing public pressure for the government to do more for those who are still sick years after working on the toxic debris pile at the World Trade Center site.

Clinton, D-N.Y., has called for a $1.9 billion federal effort to provide years of treatment to the sick workers.

Mount Sinai, which has screened some 19,000 such workers, released a report last year finding nearly seven out of every 10 Ground Zero responders suffered lung problems.

One of the doctors who wrote that report, Dr. Robin Herbert, has said thousands will likely need long-term health care.

***

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

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