New York City

How 9/11 survivors can get help

It’s not too late to apply for compensation for health care costs.

New York City firefighters and journalists stand near the area known as Ground Zero after the collapse of the Twin Towers.

New York City firefighters and journalists stand near the area known as Ground Zero after the collapse of the Twin Towers. Anthony Correia/Shutterstock

With more than 400,000 people at risk of developing 9/11-related illness, as Bob Hennelly explained in this week’s City & State cover story, there are still New Yorkers who may not realize that they’re victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Others, as Amanda Luz Henning Santiago writes in her first-person account for City & State, know all too well that they’re suffering, but have struggled to connect with the health and financial resources made for victims. 

Awareness of some resources seems to be growing. Enrollment in the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund increased by nearly 70% over last year, presumably due in part to the months-long political effort to keep the fund alive. Washington did just that in July, effectively permanently extending and bankrolling the fund. While the battle is over on Capitol Hill, new victims are finding the resources available to them every day. Here’s a brief guide.

What’s available?

The main resources are the World Trade Center Health Program, which pays for medical and mental health treatment for 9/11-related illnesses, and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which pays victims and immediate family members for the financial losses incurred as a result of those 9/11-related illness or death. Both are federal programs, now fully funded through the July passage of the Never Forget the Heroes Act.

There’s also the World Trade Center Health Registry, a city-run program to monitor and study 9/11-related conditions. The registry helps connect victims to treatment – and the WTC Health Program – through the 9/11 Treatment Referral Program.

Who’s eligible for all of these?

Anybody involved in the rescue, recovery, demolition or debris removal at the World Trade Center site is eligible for the WTC Health Program. So are people in the wider class of “NYC Survivors” who lived, worked or attended school or day care in the “NYC disaster area” – anywhere in Manhattan south of Houston Street, and parts of Brooklyn Heights within a 1.5 mile radius of the World Trade Center complex.

Once the WTC Health Program or another government entity determines that an illness or death was related to 9/11, then the victim or their family generally has two years to file a claim with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, or VCF. 

What health conditions are covered?

A lot of them. The WTC Health Program provides a long list of maladies that health professional found were likely to be caused by exposure to the attacks on 9/11, ranging from asthma to post-traumatic stress disorder to various types of cancers. 

9/11 was years ago. Isn’t it too late to sign up?

No. If you fit one of the eligible groups, you can still apply to the WTC Health Program. Accepted survivors get a one-time initial health screening for 9/11-related illnesses, and accepted first responders get annual check-ups to find related health issues. 

The VCF, however, has strict deadlines, depending on the date an illness was certified or a victim died. The fund goes into the details on its FAQ page. 

The WTC Health Registry closed in 2004, and isn’t accepting new registrants.

How likely are claimants to succeed?

Of the nearly 52,000 claims filed for the VCF, about 24,000 received awards. 

Are there other resources?

Those are the major government programs, but there are a handful of other still-active foundations that provide community, emotional support and financial resources for survivors. There’s Tuesday’s Children, which aims to heal those affected by loss, the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which provides educational assistance to the families of 9/11 victims, the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which supports first responders and injured military veterans, and so many more.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.