Beyond the initial disaster, many people have also gotten ill as a result of the environmental fallout. Responders involved in the rescue, recovery, and cleanup services including temporary workers, day laborers, construction and building trades workers, communication workers, state and city workers and survivors (those in the dust or dust cloud on 9/11 and area workers/residents/students) present in the NYC Disaster Area are eligible for the program. It is estimated that over 400,000 people were exposed to the WTC-contaminants on 9/11 and the subsequent recovery. Years later, many of those who were exposed continue to get sick with related illnesses.
The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act established the WTC Health Program in 2011 to provide healthcare to these 9/11 responders and survivors. The WTC Health Program is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.With Zadroga Act’s reauthorization in 2015, the WTC Health Program is funded through 2090.
Hear from those that have benefited from the WTC Health Program:
Download NYCOSH’s 9/11-related Reports:
Were you there?
If you are an individual with a 9/11-related illness, please consider sharing your story with NYCOSH. Sharing stories helps to recruit people into the World Trade Center Health Program and it reminds everyone that now and in the future, people must be protected from toxic areas when responding and living through disasters. If you’d like to share your story, please contact WTCHP program coordinator Liam Lynch at llynch@nycosh.org.
Are You Eligible for the World Trade Center Health Program?
Responders involved in the rescue, recovery, and cleanup services including temporary workers, day laborers, construction and building trades workers, communication workers, state and city workers and survivors (those in the dust or dust cloud on 9/11 and area workers/residents/students) present in the NYC Disaster Area are eligible for the program.
Click here for an application or for more information or call the WTC Health Program directly at (888) 982-4748.
You can also call NYCOSH at (855) 4WTC-AID (855 498-2243) or email us at nycosh@nycosh.org if you have any questions.
Specialized 9/11 No-Cost Healthcare is Available
If you believe your health was impacted by the 9/11 disaster, you may be eligible for no-cost medical monitoring and treatment at the WTC Health Program. The WTC Health Program is a specialized no-cost healthcare program available throughout the country with Clinical Centers of Excellence located in the New York metro area. The program treats over a 100 different illnesses related to 9/11 including many upper respiratory conditions such as asthma and sleep apnea, mental health conditions such as depression, and PTSD, and over 50 types of cancer.
You can see the full list of eligible conditions here.
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) is a federal program also established by the Zadroga Act to provide financial compensation to those who were physically injured or made ill as a result of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks and for relatives of those who died as a result of the attacks. The VCF is administered by the Department of Justice and is a separate program from the WTC Health Program.
Who is eligible for the VCF?
Individuals are eligible if they were present at the 9/11 crash sites or in the NYC covered disaster area at the time of the crashes or between September 11, 2001 and May 30, 2002, and suffered physical harm as a direct result of the crashes or debris removal.
Those eligible for the VCF include rescue, recovery and clean-up workers as well as residents, workers, students and passers-by in the covered disaster area (Manhattan south of Canal Street from the Hudson River to East Broadway, north on East Broadway to Clinton Street, and east on Clinton Street to the East River, the barge and landfill, and areas and routes related to debris removal). Workers involved in contaminated vehicle repair and the OCME are also eligible. There are deadlines attached to registration and filing a claim. In general, you must register with the VCF to reserve your right to file a claim later (but no later than December 18th, 2020) within two years of the date of the 9/11-related injury or illness diagnosis. Registration is not the same as filing a claim and does not commit you to file a claim even if you have registered.
If you are not sure of your eligibility or registration/filing deadlines, contact the VCF at 855-885-1555 or www.vcf.gov. You can also find answers to frequently asked questions about the VCF on their Program Info fact sheet and Just the Facts fact sheet.
About NYCOSH’s Health for Heroes Outreach Campaign
To mark the 15th anniversary of 9/11 The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NYCOSH’s) #health4heroes launched an outreach campaign that coordinated outreach and education efforts by partnering with labor and community organizations in order to ensure that more workers are fully informed about the services provided by the World Trade Center Health Program.
Presenting partner, the New York City Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO); and lead partner, the New York Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, kicked off the campaign with a New York City labor drive that reached hundreds of labor affiliates throughout the city.
The Health for Heroes campaign continues today as NYCOSH provides outreach and enrollment assistance to organizations and individual workers. NYCOSH has created an online toolkit to help our labor and community partners spread the word about this vital program.
Download our Partner Toolkit and Web Buttons:
Health For Heroes Campaign – Partner Toolkit
Download our Circle Button; Rectangle Button; or Square Button images for your webpage and link them to the WTC Health Program at: http://www.cdc.gov/wtc/index.html
