A First Responder’s Story

Now available in paperback

 

One Of Them

One of Them:

 

To contact us:  steve@wadv-oneofthem.com

 

On 9/11/2001, America suffered the most catastrophic attack inflicted by a foreign entity on US soil since the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. On 9/11/2001, 343 first responders along with thousands of innocent civilians, lost their lives when the World Trade Center (WTC) was attacked. The New York State Department of Health World Trade Center Responder Fatality Investigation Program, dated February 2009, stated that as of December 2008, seven hundred thirteen (713) people who worked at the WTC site have died. Of those 713, five hundred forty eight (548) have a determined cause of death listed. This information can be found at http://www.nyhealth.gov/environmental/investigations/wtc/health_studies/confirmed_deaths.htm

The causes of death ranged from traumatic (such as accidents, homicide, and suicide) to illness (such as Hepatitis C, cancer of digestive organs, leukemia, pneumonia, and renal failure). These figures are astounding, but not surprising, given that the rescue and recovery operation exposed responders to levels of chemical toxins unprecedented in American history.  Clearly, almost eight years down the road, 9/11 is still killing, with the death toll continuing to mount.

 

The city, state, and federal governments were quick to promise full support for the rescue, and subsequent recovery effort. According to a GAO Highlight Report (found at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d061092thigh.pdf) the federal government provided $75 million to establish a monitoring and treatment program for first responders to the WTC site. A small portion of those funds were allocated to establish a monitoring program for federal employees who were first responders to the WTC site. Please note that only a monitoring program was established for federal employees. This was an important fact brought up in my testimony before a congressional sub-committee hearing on September 8, 2006, held in NYC. The meeting was chaired by Congressman Shays (D-CT), with then-Senator Clinton, Senator Schumer, Congressmen Nadler and Fossella, Congresswoman Maloney, et. al., in attendance.

 

In a subsequent Congressional Report on Oversight and Government Reform, Serial No, 110-2, dated February 28, 2007, it was reported that over $700 million had been spent on healthcare for ailing first responders. The report also stated that the estimated annual cost of maintaining the healthcare system would be between $250 and $390 million. However, the President’s budget for 2008 allocated $25 million for maintenance of the program.

In August 2008, I received a letter from Logistics Health Inc. (LHI), a contractor hired by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to implement the elements of the program. I was ecstatic as I thought the federal government had finally heard the voices of federal first responders and had implemented a program that would truly provide healthcare for its own people that had responded to the tragedy of 9/11. I was informed that I would have to go through a screening process and was issued an Insurance identification card for LHI. I was told that if I needed to seek medical attention for a related illness before my screening appointment that I should do so promptly. My initial screening process was scheduled for the first week of October 2008. However, due to LHI personnel issues, the clinic was not able to see me till January 2009. Between October 2008 and January 2009, I began to re-experience severe lower back pain that had been diagnosed as herniated disks and degenerative disk disease in May 2005., resulting from working at ground zero

 

I informed LHI of my situation and was told that I should go to my local clinic for medical attention and treatment using my LHI insurance policy, which I did. Approximately one week later I finally received my initial screening by the LHI appointed clinic. One week after that I received a letter from LHI stating that my claim was denied because the diagnosed condition was not on the approved list of treatable conditions and that there was no documentation supporting my claim made prior to September 11, 2003.

 

In a subsequent follow-up phone call made to LHI, I learned that NIOSH has placed a two year restriction on eligible cases for coverage under the LHI policy. This restriction eliminates approximately 90% of the first responders that the program was designed to help as many didn’t exhibit symptoms till well after the initial two year period. During the phone call I asked the LHI case worker to please send me a formal rejection letter, which they did.

 

The letter stated which ailments the program is empowered to cover. The letter also stated that “the program will only provide treatments for health conditions that have been determined by medical and science experts to be related to exposures at the WTC site…”  The conditions covered include “aerodigestive disorders such as WTC cough, chronic rhinitis/sinusitis, reactive airway disease, GERD, mental health conditions, and musculoskeletal disorders…”

 

If 90% of responders are ineligible for coverage due to the 2 year criteria and the narrow range of medical conditions covered, as a taxpayer I would like to know what happens to all the millions of dollars that are being used to fund the program?

 

As a retired federal employee who had management oversight for programs contracted out to others, I am aware that there is usually an administrative cost associated with the contractor organization’s daily operation of the program. I have seen these rates, sometimes referred to as G&A, go as high as 48% of the allocated budget. Typically, these rates usually run in the 30% range. My point here is that everyone seems to be benefitting from the allocation of funds that Congress has provided with the exception of the first responders; the very people the funds were supposed to be used for. This prompts one to take a closer look at the program design. If that person also happens to be one of the rejected ill first responders, then I feel they must speak out not only as a patient denied the essential healthcare that Congress said it was providing them when they approved the program, but also as a concerned American taxpayer. I am one of the rejected ill first responders and I am speaking out.