Last Day for 9/11 First Responders to Accept Settlement
Today is the deadline for 9/11 first responders to accept a settlement offer proposed by the City of New York and the attorneys for the approximately 10,000 injured emergency workers. The settlement, estimated at $815 million, must be approved by 95% of the first responders that have filed claims for their injuries caused by exposure to the toxic cloud that they worked in immediately after the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers.
Workers, depending on the severity of their illness, will receive just a few thousand dollars or up to millions for those most seriously ill. A large portion of the settlement will be apportioned to attorneys fees and expenses. The law firms involved spent enormous amounts of money and without their efforts, no settlement would have been forthcoming. Their legal fees are not the problem.
The proposed settlement, once facing an uphill battle for approval, increased its chances with the House of Representatives passing of the Zadroga Health Care Bill in September. The Zadroga Bill, if passed by the Senate, will re-open the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) and provide medical benefits to those who suffered illness from exposure. The reopening of the VCF would provide the first responders with a chance to recover money for the pain and suffering that they have endured.
Since the senate will not vote on the Zadroga Bill until they return from the mid-term elections, how can any one person be expected to agree to a settlement without actually knowing what they will receive? No one has guaranteed the passage of the Zadroga Bill once the senate reconvenes so why put a deadline of today for those to settle? Haven't they suffered enough? Faced with the pressure of wondering what their exposure will mean in the long-term, if they will even live to see their grandchildren, the government (I include the City and Federal government under that umbrella) is now forcing the first responders to make a choice - settle now for a limited amount of money with the promise of "maybe" more benefits. If they agree to settle and the Zadroga Bill doesn't pass, will the settlement money be enough for their future health care and lost wages? That answer is a simple "NO."
Basically, the government has asked the emergency workers to "trust it." This is from the same government that told the responders repeatedly that the air was fine and safe to breathe. Now they are falling ill and dying in ever increasing numbers. "Trust me" they ask now - my father always taught me to walk away from a "deal" like that offered by someone who has burnt you before. Fool me once . . . We all know how that ends.
