STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Months after President Donald Trump axed legislation to fully fund the World Trade Center Health Program, New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressperson Nicole Malliotakis among other elected officials secured money for 9\/11 first responders through 2040. <\/p>\n
Tacking their legislation onto the 2026 appropriations bill, participants in the program will now be able to receive free healthcare through the next several years with the updated funding formula, according to a written statement. <\/p>\n
The program is meant to help those suffering from health issues from the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen firsthand the toll that uncertainty and funding gaps take on our 9\/11 heroes,\u201d Schumer said in a written statement. \u201cI\u2019m proud to share that we\u2019ve secured inclusion of full funding for the World Trade Center Health Program so responders and survivors can continue receiving the care they deserve. From the moment of the attacks, brave first responders and everyday New Yorkers made extraordinary sacrifices for our country. I have always said I will not rest until every 9\/11 hero knows that when they need care, that care will be there for them, and fully funding this program helps ensure that promise is kept.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program was thrown into a chaotic whirlwind in 2025 after Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency fired the program\u2019s administrator, Dr. John Howard, and other employees. While some employees were rehired, it is not clear if Howard is back in his position. <\/p>\n
The program additionally lost funding due to those DOGE cuts. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe World Trade Center Health Program helps honor our promise to never forget by ensuring medical monitoring and treatment for the 9\/11 survivors and responders who stepped up in one of our nation\u2019s darkest hours,\u201d Gillibrand said. \u201cAllowing a funding shortfall to disrupt access to their car would be a betrayal of their service to New York and our nation. I was proud to work across the aisle to finally secure full funding for the World Trade Center Health Program, and I am relieved that it will be included in next week\u2019s bill to avert the impending funding shortfall. I will always work to ensure that our heroes get the care they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program is slated to be active until 2090. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am proud to stand with my New York colleagues to ensure the World Trade Center Health Program remains fully funded in this final round of appropriations, guaranteeing continued support for 9\/11 responders and survivors. Twenty-five years after this horrific terrorist attack, we are still losing first responders to 9\/11 related illnesses on a regular basis. We will always stand up for these heroes and survivors to ensure they have access to the care they need and deserve,\u201d Congressperson Nicole Malliotakis told the Advance\/SILive.com. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Months after President Donald Trump axed legislation to fully fund the World Trade Center…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-108899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}