By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — As questions continue to mount about the new 9/11 health law, several of the law’s sponsors put together a comprehensive fact sheet that they hope will help people understand it.
U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Peter King released the 14-page list of answers to frequently asked questions on Monday. The list, along with several other documents summarizing the law, is available on Maloney’s website.
The $4.3 billion law, which goes into effect July 1, provides $1.8 billion for healthcare for those who are sick and $2.5 billion to reopen the Victim Compensation Fund.
The lawmakers’ new fact sheet gives the first clear, detailed information about who is eligible for these benefits, including the criteria for first responders, recovery workers, volunteers, residents, students and office workers.
One key point is that the compensation money is only for physical injuries and deaths, and will not go to those with solely psychological issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, the fact sheet says.
Cancers also are not covered as 9/11-related illnesses under the law, but the federal government will periodically review medical research to decide whether certain types of cancer should be added, the fact sheet says.
The sheet also explains that the new law bars anyone who submitted a claim to the first Victim Compensation Fund, which closed in 2003, from reapplying, even if they did not receive any money from the first round of funding.
"We hope that these materials will help begin to answer questions that 9/11 responders and survivors have had about the Zadroga law," the legislators said in a statement. "However, many details about the health and compensation programs must still be worked out by the Obama Administration."
The lawmakers recently met with Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and plan to meet with Attorney General Eric Holder soon, "to set up the strongest, most comprehensive programs to help those who lost their health because of 9/11," they said.
