Senate Passes Health Benefits Bill for 9/11 Responders

WASHINGTON [CNN] — The Senate on Wednesday passed a compromise version of a bill to provide free medical treatment to first responders of the September 11 terrorist attack.

The bill passed on a voice vote on what is expected to be the final day of the lame-duck session of Congress. It now goes to the House, which also is expected to approve it and send it to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.

Negotiations Wednesday morning involving Republican Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both of New York, led to the deal that reduced the cost of the bill by $2 billion and made other changes sought by GOP opponents, according to statements by the participants.

“The Christmas Miracle we’ve been looking for has arrived,” said the statement issued by Schumer and Gillibrand, adding: “We are pleased to announce that we crafted an agreement that will allow this legislation to pass the Senate, and the House, this afternoon. We thank our Republican friends for coming together to fulfill America’s moral obligation to the heroes of 9/11.”

Coburn, a conservative who led the opposition to the bill, said the agreement produced a better piece of legislation.

“Every American recognizes the heroism of the 9/11 first responders, but it is not compassionate to help one group while robbing future generations of opportunity,” said Coburn, who had demanded that the cost of the bill be lowered and fully paid for. “I’m pleased this agreement strikes a fair balance and improves the bill the majority attempted to rush through at the last minute.”

According to Coburn, the agreement reduces the overall cost of the bill by $2 billion to a total of $4.2 billion over a 10-year period. His statement said that $1.5 billion of the cost goes for health benefits and $2.7 billion will pay for compensation for health woes of emergency responders.

The agreement also caps attorneys’ fees at 10 percent of any total compensation award, and prevents individuals from making multiple claims for benefits.

Democrats previously agreed to pay for the bill with fees collected on various services involving foreign countries and foreign visitors.

On Tuesday, Schumer said it appeared the bill would come up for a Senate vote once lawmakers voted on New START, a nuclear arms control pact with Russia that is one of Obama’s top foreign policy priorities. The START vote was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

“It will be decision day in the Senate, and we will see once and for all who will keep their promise to never forget the heroes of 9/11,” Schumer said.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health Bill is named after a deceased New York Police Department detective who had worked in the toxic plume at ground zero.

The House earlier passed the previous version of the bill on a mostly partisan 268-160 vote.

According to the bill’s supporters, it is funded by a procurement fee on some foreign countries that trade with the United States, the continuation of a fee on some travelers to the United States and a fee on visas for some companies. The version being negotiated by the senators Wednesday drops some of those funding sources.

On Tuesday, a group of 9/11 first responders joined lawmakers in Washington to urge the Senate to pass the health care bill.

“We continue to see our friends die on a day-to-day basis,” said Glen Klein, a New York police officer who said he is sick with lung disease. “We’re asking for the right to live.”

In the years following the attacks, health experts have noted respiratory and mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, in those who engaged in ground zero rescue and cleanup efforts.

“Apparently we have some senators who would like to believe that when 343 fire officers and firefighters (and thousands of civilians and police officers) died on 9/11 … that was the end of it,” said Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

“If that were true, we could move on.”

The bill had been in legislative limbo since Thursday, when Senate Democrats failed to win a procedural vote to open debate on it.

But on Sunday, Democrats said they were hopeful they had pulled off “a Christmas miracle” by changing the bill enough to garner Republican support.